Saved by My Rival
by Shaunatheboss
Summary: Eggman finds Sonic lost and injured in the snow. But what happens next? Read on to find out! Rated M to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

Saved by My Rival: Prologue

**Hey, guys! Guess who's back? **

**I still thank everyone that supported me through my first story. **

**If you're new to my stories then I welcome you too!**

**Please review; same as always please; it might make new chapters appear faster!**

**This story is called 'Saved by My Rival; where even enemies can become friends.'**

**I don't own Sonic or the gang; they belong to Sega and Sonic Team.**

**WARNING:**** In this story, anything is possible, so read at your own risk. **

**Thank you!**

**And without further delay… I'm out of here!**

**Please enjoy!**

XXX

In a distant land, far away, a human was studying animal life in the harsh and unforgiving, continuously snowing region of the land called White Acropolis. This human had an overall weight of approximately 20 stone, bald head and a moustache that would put a broom to shame.

Dr. Eggman was an evil scientist, whose ambition in life was to take over the world and build the Eggman Empire that he had always dreamed of. Those plans however, were always foiled by a certain blue hedgehog named Sonic, who could run faster than the wind.

He decided to take a one year vacation, away from all the havoc that he caused and perhaps more importantly, to get away from his nemesis and the thorn in his side for over two decades.

Eggman came to the snowy peaks, over the silence of the surroundings and the fact that he had a thriving base built here for many years that even Sonic never found or ever searched. He had also come here to study the rare and endangered animals that made their habitat here.

It had been about 3 months since he took his vacation. It was nearly mid-winter now (near November). He was still enjoying himself with his new found hobby to pass the time, but he was starting to have his doubts of ever returning to his evil ways again. Every so often, a voice in his head kept nagging him to retire from his heinous schemes and to live his life with the precious time that he had left.

The doctor was currently sitting in a small tent like structure, but could easily see out into the clearing in front of him. The coverage was disguised as a bush; similar to the foliage surrounding it. His main base was about 5 kilometres north from his current location on a large mountain behind him. His Egg Mobile was parked beside a tree, close by and was camouflaged by a sheet, blending it in with its current surroundings.

The scientist was drinking tea from a flask and had all the essentials with him, including a first aid kit, in case he got in trouble. He was using radar and thermal binoculars to see creatures farther away, thanks to their body heat giving themselves away.

As he looked outside, it was only snowing lightly. It felt like a calm evening as the sun was setting, but Eggman had checked the forecast on his computers in his base before leaving and discovered that a massive blizzard was approaching; it would arrive before midnight.


	2. A Rare Sight

Chapter 2: A Rare Sight.

**Sorry if the prologue didn't seem interesting, but I promise that things get interesting from here. And I'm sorry if the characters seem OOC (Out Of Character - I believe it means), but I'm doing my best here! Please enjoy!**

**XXX**

Eggman looked at the notes of the encounters that he had today. Between the elk and the wolves that he had spotted, today was a special day because he had come across a rare white snow leopard on this site. The scientist had already shot it with the gun that he kept within arm's length to himself. This gun shot harmless darts and had a microchip inside the serum that acted as a tracking device.

It was 9pm when the scientist decided to call it a day and started packing up his equipment. Suddenly, he heard his radar going off again; something was in range of his site. The doctor grabbed his thermal binoculars and headed to the opening to take a look. The animal that he saw in the distance looked like a wolf, over a similar appearance with the pointed ears and mass of fur. The animal was heading straight towards him, but then it turned sideways a few feet beside the camp, revealing its true form.

The doctor gasped at the newly formed silhouette; it walked on two legs, had two skinny arms and a long tail, but the dead giveaway was its head; while it had pointed ears, it also had a small muzzle and a distinctive pattern on the back of its head. The pattern was three spikes on the back of its head, arranged from a mass of quills.

Eggman looked closely at the quill pattern; unique to all hedgehogs and recognised it to be Sonic's pattern in a few seconds. The doctor couldn't believe his luck! He really wanted to capture the legendary blue hedgehog for years and use his boundless energy and powers to fuel his machines. The human quickly and quietly placed the thermal binoculars on the ground and brought out his gun with a scope equipped onto it.

'_*Groan* If only I had thought to bring some more tranquilizers…'_ Eggman thought to himself. _'Guess the tracking darts will have to do, but I'll only have one shot at this. If I miss, he'll flee.'_

He then loaded the gun with said darts, then brought the gun up to his shoulder, looked through the scope and took aim at the hedgehog.

When he took aim at the hedgehog shaped silhouette, the snow suddenly cleared and the doctor had his sights on Sonic. But what he saw next only made his heart sink.

It was not Sonic the Hedgehog…

It was a shadow of his nemesis.

As Eggman looked at the blue hedgehog closely, using his scope, he saw a number of disturbing things.

Sonic's fur was duller than normal and completely disarranged. His eyes that once shone an emerald colour and had a radiant spark in them were dimmed and dull; they showed and spoke only of pain and suffering. His left leg had a slowly healing cut on it and he was limping; the speed that he had always shown off with wasn't being used. The more upsetting thing was Eggman could see Sonic's ribs protruding through his blue hide; Sonic was starving and probably hadn't eaten in weeks. On top of that, he was shivering from the cold climate and probably wouldn't last much longer; he probably wouldn't even survive the rapidly approaching snowstorm.

Doctor Eggman found it extremely hard to believe that this was truly the great Sonic the Hedgehog. Surprisingly, the human was starting to feel pity for Sonic, but he knew that surprising him would only cause Sonic to run away, no matter his condition and then all hope in saving him would be completely lost.

Eggman then brought the gun up to his eye again and took aim at Sonic, intending to hit him in the shoulder. He carefully levelled it with the blue hedgehog's shoulder. This would have to be accurate and precise; he'd only get one shot at him. He squeezed the trigger and watched his specially modified dart fly less than 10 feet across to the oblivious hedgehog, embedding itself in his bony shoulder.

"OW!" Sonic yelped out in pain.

He was pushed forward a few steps from the impact and quickly whipped his head around, scanning the infected area. It only took him five seconds to find the dart, grasp it and pull it out. He quickly glanced at the body of the dart and saw an Eggman logo on it.

Sonic immediately had a look of anger on his face and looked towards the bushes.

He then snarled and bared his fangs "Eggman!" Then he ran off.

The said scientist wasted no time in going after him. The human headed back towards his Egg Mobile, threw off the covers, got in and started his transporting contraption. With a satisfying hum resonating within the engine, the doctor sped off after Sonic, using his tracking radar as a guide.

XXX

Sonic however couldn't hold his speed up for long and after a few minutes; he had to slow down to a jog and then a walk. After what felt like forever, the blue hedgehog managed to speed up again and even managed to go up to breakneck speed, despite his injury.

'_That's strange…why am I not feeling tired? The drugs from that dart should've well kicked in by now. Either Eggman's slipping or else he's gone soft.'_

Soon, he was running through a clearing, but then something went wrong; he tripped over a tree root, hidden by the snow and twisted his ankle. Sonic then fell flat on his face in the snow.

"ARGH!" Sonic screamed out in pain.

It was then that the blue blur realized that he had made a dangerous mistake; his scream would lure anything within earshot to his location to investigate and if Eggman had heard him, then the situation was even more risky.

He then managed to roll onto his back, panting and trying to catch his breath for a few minutes. He then heard - and felt – footsteps coming towards him, sending vibrations through the ground that Sonic felt from his quills, lying on the ground and the crunching sounds of the snow beneath footsteps were sent to the blue hedgehog's rotating ears.

There was only one person who made that noise pattern and it was no robot either.

Sonic then gritted his teeth and lowered his eyelids most of the way; he wasn't about to allow old Egghead see him down.

XXX

Eggman obviously found him easily, thanks to his tracker and the microchip now in Sonic's bloodstream. He was surprised to find him lying in the open, exposed and vulnerable to anything that came along the path.

'_Why wouldn't the hedgehog at least crawl into a bush to hide?'_ Eggman pondered while walking the last few feet over.

He then cast a shadow over Sonic's body, making the blue hedgehog look upwards; that was when their eyes locked, well towards the darkened shades anyway because Sonic couldn't see the doctor's eyes clearly. They remained in a stare down for several moments in shock over the other's appearance. Sonic's eyes had regarded the human with surprise and then, they narrowed. But Eggman was the first to speak after the stunned silence, but what he said surprised Sonic.

"Evening…Sonic." Eggman announced with a greeting gesture that looked like the tipping an imaginary hat on his bald head.

Sonic was surprised that the doctor had actually mentioned him by name; no 'hedgehog', 'rodent', 'rat' or any other diverse menagerie of insults that the scientist had created over the years. This had to be a trick or something; Eggman was probably toying with him; messing with his mind, trying to get his guard down and when he was least expecting it… BANG! Robotized into a slave forever to do the doctor's bidding.

The blue blur was dying to make a witty comeback with an insult, but he thought better; he was no longer a cocky, insulting teenager, but a mature adult and he'd have to act like one, even if it meant swallowing his pride at everything he ever had.

"Eggman" Sonic replied with a raspy voice and acknowledged the other with a nod.

The doctor couldn't reply from shock over seeing the blue hedgehog's state worse than he expected; he could count the number of ribs clearly, exposed by Sonic's thin and stretched out skin. There was hardly a scrap of meat on him and his left leg was leaking fresh blood out of the old wound again. After a few seconds of silence, Sonic decided to continue the conversation; Eggman was the first person that he could talk to in weeks.

"So… uh…heh, h-how've you been since the last time I saw you?" Sonic said, a little embarrassed and nervous at the same time about this. _'The least he could do is help me up; this is embarrassing and I think I'm blushing from the situation. I don't even know if I can walk on my leg yet.'_

'_I'm fine thanks, but it's you that I'm worried about…'_ Eggman thought. He believed that he shouldn't give himself away; he would seem too soft then and Sonic would suspect something was up. If he told Sonic that he was planning to retire, then he'd be damned to Hell. Instead he replied.

"That's not really your concern, hedgehog, but what the heck happened to you? You REALLY don't look so good." Eggman replied in his usual unreadable tone as he was observing the blue hedgehog carefully. The dark shades covering his eyes also made him harder to read.

"I got lost in the forest over 2 months ago, acquired these cuts after hunting a bull moose for food… _'Went hungry and lonely for weeks' "…_and then ran into you – although 'run' isn't the best word, more like 'limped.' Now please, help me up… It's freezing here!" Sonic replied to the doctor while holding up an outstretched arm.

Eggman then wasted no time in grabbing the blue hedgehog's fawn coloured arm. He was astonished that he had his slightly larger hand closed around Sonic's arm. He saw how skinny it was; there wasn't anything there; no meat, no muscle, just bone covered by a thin pale layer of skin.

'_Good, Chaos… He's even worse than I'd imagined. It's probably a miracle that I found him tonight or that he was still standing; otherwise he would never have gotten back up if he had fallen. And if he never found shelter from the blizzard, he probably would've fallen asleep and would never awaken again.'_

The doctor then helped Sonic up. The hedgehog still didn't know if he could walk, let alone run, but still decided to keep his injured leg off the ground, while Eggman was holding onto him.

"Thanks." he mumbled, mostly to himself but he was sure that the scientist could hear him. He then thought of an idea.

He would allow the doctor to capture him, bring him back to a base, most likely and take care of him. At least anywhere else was MUCH better than being lost and stuck here in this endless winter wonder land, even if it was Eggman's base or a jail cell; at least it was probably warm. He would get care and treatment for his injuries right under Eggman's rather utterly large, red nose. But first, he knew that he had to submit to his enemy. So he swallowed his pride and hinted to Eggman.

"So…guess you finally got me then… my ankle's twisted and I probably can't walk on it." Sonic announced breathing harshly over this fact that he couldn't escape and was completely at Eggman's mercy.

The doctor was surprised at the hedgehog's announcement; it sounded as if Sonic was really giving in and surrendering. The scientist then guessed that his former nemesis wanted to be captured and taken away from this harsh environment; anything else was probably better than this for him. It was made more obvious due to Sonic's condition of health and the fact that it sounded as though he was breathing a little faster than normal and sounded more laboured.

Eggman then thought for a moment; this wasn't exactly a fair fight, but he did have a tiny (possibly microscopic/very tiny and almost non-existent) conscience in his head that told him to take Sonic back to the base and figure out things from there. Maybe he could still make Sonic his prisoner after all and have him obedient and broken for the entire world to see and Eggman would then reign supreme with his empire.

The doctor then smiled mentally at this cunning plan. And then looked down to Sonic.

"So it would seem, Sonic. My base is nearby; we'll use the Egg Mobile to get there. Let's get going or else you can freeze to death out here for all I care. Now, walk!" Eggman commanded in the same dark and menacing tone that he had used earlier.

Sonic then decided to take a single step on his bad leg, but the pressure made his leg give out from under him and he collapsed to his knees, on the ground, in a kneeling position.

"Agh! Oh, Chaos! My leg!" Sonic yelped out in pain.

"Your choice, hedgehog; Walk or Die!" Eggman said; cruelty clearly resonating in his voice. He had no time for this and the storm was rapidly approaching; it would be here in about an hour over the tell-tale signs of the wind picking up and the sky getting darker.

Sonic whined quietly in his throat; there was no way that he could walk one step, let alone to the Egg Mobile. He was too weak from the cold and lack of nourishment in his diet. His metabolism worked faster than a human's; that's why he ate more but hardly ever gained weight due to his body and from all the running that he did while training hard.

"I… can't…" Sonic then sighed at his defeat, bowing his head, closing his eyes and lowering his ears. He then looked up at the larger scientist. "I need help."

Thankfully Eggman felt pity for his nemesis and bent down, intending to pick the blue hedgehog up, but then he saw something strange in those emerald eyes as he was bending down; Sonic's eyes had shifted. They were no longer looking at the doctor's face; they were looking over his shoulder. His face was one of shock.

"Huh?" Eggman said with curiosity and then he looked behind him. He was horrified at what he saw.

A giant grizzly bear was standing on its hind legs behind him. It was almost twice as tall as the doctor and much heavier in weight.

"**Roar!"**

"Oh, great…" Eggman said.

**XXX**

**To be continued…**


	3. A Dire Situation

Chapter 3: A Dire Situation

Eggman could only look, frozen with fear at the giant grizzly, with scars in the shape of an 'X' across its face, that was about twice as big as him drew back a large clawed paw and was going to swipe with it. Eggman had closed his eyes, bracing himself for this grizzly fate. But right before the paw made impact with the doctor's abdomen; there was a sudden strong gust of wind. Eggman heard the gruesome sound of claws hitting flesh and bone.

Then there was a terrible ear-piercing scream of pain, the sound of banging against the ground.

Eggman opened his eyes to see the bear retreating with a bloodied paw that it was holding up, in pain. Eggman didn't feel hurt. Was he dead? He checked himself and realized that there wasn't even a single scratch on him. But when he looked down, he saw a few drops of red liquid on the snow white ground.

'_There's blood here… Oh, no… Where's Sonic?'_ The human scientist looked behind him at where Sonic was kneeling previously, but he wasn't there anymore. Then he heard something awfully familiar:

A whimper a few meters away to his right.

Eggman headed in that direction. Along the way, he saw trails of blood that got bigger and more serious the further he went. After a few seconds and ten meters away, he spotted a disturbing and horrific sight in the snow.

Sonic was lying on his right side in a large pool of blood. His left side had a large wound that blood poured freely out of. His left arm was broken; shattered from the impact with the bear's paw that was as strong as a hammer and claws as sharp as knives.

Sonic's chest was rising and falling at an alarming rate and he twitched occasionally. His breathing came in pants and gasps as he tried to get enough air into his lungs. His chest rattled from inevitably broken ribs.

Eggman came over absolutely horrified to see his old enemy like this; even he was never THAT cruel on damage or injuries. That's when the doctor realized that Sonic had actually come in front of him in a burst of speed and took the hit himself; he had actually saved his own rival from danger and perhaps death. Eggman was extremely surprised at this and had to ask Sonic an important question:

"Why…Why did you do it, Sonic?" Eggman asked his old nemesis, while kneeling down beside him and making Sonic sit up a small bit by placing his longer arm against the hedgehog's spiked back.

Sonic just smirked, although it took a lot of effort through the pain that he was feeling all over his body. "Good… or bad… you're still a person, Eggy. I-If y-you see the others… tell them that I'm sorry…" he then coughed up blood and saw more blood on his glove that he used to cover his mouth.

"Oh, no you don't; you're not giving up that easily. I'll take you back to my base." Eggman replied in a stern and determined voice.

Sonic was then getting dizzy over not being able to breathe and he felt his senses were slipping away; he was losing too much blood. "S-so tired…" Sonic whispered quietly and leaned back towards Eggman, losing consciousness.

The doctor saw what was happening; If Sonic fell asleep, he'd never wake up again. "Hey, HEY! WAKE UP, SONIC!" Eggman shouted. Sonic came back again but he was exhausted and extremely weak; the doctor had to act quickly. Thankfully, he was a real doctor from years of training and knew what he had to do.

He got a clean, straight stick, then ripped an entire sleeve off of his crimson jacket and moved Sonic gently. He then proceeded to wrap it around Sonic's injured arm. He placed the stick on Sonic's broken arm and wrapped some cloth around it in order to splint it. He ripped off the other sleeve and wrapped it around the hedgehog's stomach to prevent any more bleeding; at this rate, Sonic was in a critical condition from the loss of blood. During all this, Eggman had to keep pushing, prodding and gently shaking Sonic awake to keep him alive. He even talked to him to keep him awake. After that, the doctor leaned over Sonic's fawn coloured chest and listened for his heartbeat. It was luckily still there, but it was very unsteady and beated faintly against his chest; it could fail at any second. Eggman then removed his entire red jacket and draped it around the blue hedgehog to keep him warm from the freezing blizzard.

Eggman was now only wearing the black internal top that he usually wore, while carrying Sonic through the deep snow towards his Egg Mobile. When he got there, he gently placed Sonic in the seat, beside where he sat. He then ran towards one of the many compartments in his flying contraption and opened one with a red cross on it (First Aid). He removed an oxygen mask from the compartment and placed it over Sonics muzzle, making sure that it stayed on and never fell off during the flight. Eggman could see the blue hedgehog's emerald eyes slightly open and looking around, confused and bewildered. The doctor sighed; Sonic was still awake.

'_There! That should help him to breathe a little more easily.'_ Eggman thought to himself.

As Eggman started the Egg Mobile and flew off, Sonic started to groan and moan in pain, lasping in and out of consciousness. The doctor got worried over this and stepped on it. Every few seconds, he would look over to Sonic and keep prodding him to keep him conscious. He radioed in to the base and told his robots to prepare an operating room in his Medical-Sector inside his base.

Soon, Eggman made it to the base. He picked up Sonic and carried him towards the Med-Sector inside the base. Sonic was now limp, weak and silent, but somehow, he was still awake.

When they made it to the Med-Sector, Eggman found a clean, white, sterile room already prepared for his arrival. The doctor then placed Sonic on the bed and attached a small heart rate monitor to his wrist. While he was doing this, Sonic looked around tiredly; his eyes were getting heavy and he whispered weakly, "Where are we?"

"You're in my…" Eggman then paused for a second. He had to choose the right word, otherwise Sonic would never come to trust him and he would die, either from blood loss, or a heart attack, or even starvation.

He already knew not to say 'surgery', 'hospital', or 'lab'; those were Sonic's worst nightmares from past experience, when he had once captured and experimented on him.

"…clinic, Sonic. I'm going to patch you up." Eggman then added. "But first, I have to scan your injuries. So if you wouldn't mind…"

Sonic ears had actually pricked up slightly and his mood seemed to have perked up upon hearing the word 'clinic'. He then decided to do this and gave a small nod, allowing the doctor to examine him.

The scientist couldn't believe that Sonic had agreed so easily. He then pressed a button and a large projector shaped machine came out of the ceiling. Sonic couldn't believe his eyes and just stared frozen in fear. Eggman had seen this and read the blue hedgehog's body language easily.

"What? It's only a scanner; nothing to worry about." Eggman tried to reassure Sonic that there was nothing to worry about. "Oh, I almost forgot the blindfold for the laser beam."

"What?" Sonic barked weakly. _'You're kidding me! C'mon, Sonic! Wake up! You're obviously hallucinating from the cold.'_

But then Eggman really did place a blindfold across Sonic's emerald eyes; Sonic couldn't see anymore and this made the hedgehog even more nervous.

Eggman had turned around and looked at the monitor beside him, displaying Sonic's vitals.

But Sonic was getting nervous, very nervous. He was hurt badly and vulnerable to anything and everything that Eggman threw at him. He then remembered what he had seen in the room before he was blindfolded.

A small mobile desk was lying to his right; it was in full view and was proudly displaying a set of fine sterile surgical tools, including hypodermic needles and several scalpels in various sizes. There were also large syringes, capable of carrying large volumes of liquid beside them. The blue hedgehog had to grimace at the sight; Sonic still had a vivid imagination and could already think of plenty of methods to inflict pain with those surgical tools. This was like Jack the Ripper and Sweeney Todd mixed together, only with a more modern twist.

Sonic then heard the doctor talking to him.

"What's wrong? You're really tense; I can even see your quills rising. I already told you that there's nothing to worry about. I won't hurt you unnecessarily and you have my word on that." Eggman replied to Sonic after seeing his heart rate increase to an alarming rate.

The blue blur then turned his head to the side; he never believed the doctor to keep his word. So, why trust him now? He just gritted his teeth and braced himself for whatever was going to come next from the giant scanner.

'_It's probably a gun that shoots lasers and cuts off limbs.'_ Sonic thought to himself.

He heard footsteps moving around the room and suddenly felt something on his unharmed right side. He had expected a blow so fierce that he jerked and squirmed on the bed before his mind had even registered what it was. He suddenly leaned forward in fright, only to be pushed gently back onto the bed. Sonic realized that what he felt was a warm hand on his chest; this definitely wasn't a robot's hand.

"Shh… easy, Sonic." Eggman said soothingly.

This only confused the blue hedgehog. Why the hell would this guy, of ALL people, want to help him? The one person who couldn't possibly hate him more, had him where he wanted and literally on a silver platter. He could've just let him die out there.

"What are you-?" Sonic shouted but then stopped as he felt something else.

Sonic was surprised when the next touch that came wasn't pain running across his body, but instead a gentle stroking motion along his right side.

This sent shivers down the blue blur's spine; the good kind.

Sonic was just relieved that the blindfold was also covering his cheeks; he'd be absolutely humiliated if the doctor caught him blushing at this gesture. He still managed to keep his breathing under control and bit the inside of his lip to stop himself from smiling.

Eggman had seemed interested in examining Sonic's wounds closely. At least he didn't press down hard on the wounds to make them hurt. He was using a smaller scanner in his other hand and running it over Sonic's entire body. It was the size of a computer mouse.

Every time Eggman ran it over a wound or injury, the machine would beep, regardless of internal or external damage. Once he was finished scanning Sonic, he turned off the scanner and removed the blindfold. He then walked over to a computer and placed the scanner's chip into the computer.

Within a few moments, a picture of Sonic appeared on the screen, showing the areas of damage taken and details about it. Eggman looked at the list with a look of horror on his face.

'_My Chaos…'_

The damage ranged from, a broken arm, 3 broken ribs, a ruptured lung, gashes and cuts on the body and a bear claw still stuck in his side.

'_Damn! He'll have to be operated on…The claw will have to be surgically removed…It's the only way… The only problem is…'_ Eggman then turned and looked at Sonic _'…Will he really allow me?'_

On the other side of the room, an anxious Sonic was lying on the bed, thinking things over. _'What the heck was I thinking? Taking on a grizzly? I think I'm just lucky to be alive, even though I'm still very hungry. And hibernation is only a few weeks away…How will I survive it? How will I even survive here? If I get out of here alive, that is.'_ He then saw Eggman looking at the monitor, but his back was turned to him for what felt like forever. _'Something's wrong with me, I just know it. Eggman is making me nervous every time he moves around or picks up a surgical tool. It feels like there's a knife stuck in my side... He might even have to operate on me to get this thing out of me. I just hope he puts me to sleep before he even tries anything; I don't want to even imagine what he's going to do to me...or what amount of excruciating pain I'm going to be in.'_

Eggman then turned and looked at Sonic. "I'm so sorry, Sonic…looks like I will have to operate on you."

At that moment, the blue hedgehog's stomach clenched in horror.

The doctor then walked over to Sonic and asked him an important question; his life literally depended on the answer.

"Do you want me to help you?" Eggman then replied.

Sonic didn't look at him or answer his question. He was shaking and had exposed fear. He felt ashamed of himself for acting like this; a wimpy hedgehog, a mere shadow of his former self. He then looked away.

The scientist then walked over to Sonic's side; the one that Sonic was now facing and bent down to get face to face with the hedgehog. "There's no reason for you to be scared, Sonic. I've done my fair share of operations in the past and I promise you that it won't hurt a bit."

Despite what Sonic believed, Eggman really was telling the truth; he was a professional doctor and had a lifetime of experience; he'd even been doing it since before Sonic was born. He may have detested Sonic for constantly foiling his plans, but there was still a part of him that was a caring human being. He smiled caringly and stood up again. He then patted Sonic on the head, causing his ears to flatten a little bit. He then walked over to the operating desk and started to examine his operating tools.

Sonic lay there, thinking about his decisions.

'_If I don't go with it, I'll die and if I do, I might live, but I don't know what Egghead will do to me after this. Ever since he helped me, I think he's bipolar; one minute he wanted to leave me to die and the next, he was taking me here. And what was that about; he actually read my body language and then tried to calm me down by stroking my side. I believe the doctor has become demented. I guess I'd better make up my decision, and fast…' _

After a short while, Sonic finally spoke again and broke the silence, "Will I be awake…?"

Eggman looked up from his occupation and looked towards Sonic. "Hmm?" It seemed as though the doctor didn't hear him.

The blue hedgehog repeated himself. "Will I be awake when you…operate?" A tear escaped Sonic's eye. He looked away to hide it and let out a small sniff.

Eggman suddenly felt bad for his old nemesis, so he decided to try cheer him up. "You'll be in a deep sleep, Sonic…completely unaware of anything that happens." He reassured.

The scientist takes a small syringe from the operating desk and takes a vial from a drawer. He then struck the needle into the soft lid and into the clear liquid in the vial. He then drew back the plunger, filling the syringe in the process.

He then took the filled syringe and walked behind Sonic.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?"

'_This is it…no turning back now. Guess I am ready.'_ Sonic decided and then answered. "Yes."

Eggman then gently held down Sonic's right arm, marking this as the intended site of injection. He was watching to see if the blue hedgehog reacted to this.

Sonic slowly nodded and looked away.

Taking that as a 'yes', Eggman stuck the needle into the blue blur's fawn coloured arm, breaking the skin. This caused Sonic to stiffen and close his eyes tightly over the painful prick. "Relax, it'll hurt much less…" the doctor said as the needle immersed deeper into Sonic's flesh. He then pushed the plunger down, injecting the liquid into the hedgehog's bloodstream. Once the needle was empty, he quickly and gently removed it, without causing any pain.

Sonic was extremely tired from the massive blood loss. And after a few seconds, he felt sleepy as the mixed anaesthetic and painkiller was taking effect. Before he blacked out, he mumbled something to Eggman.

"Huh? What was that, Sonic?" Eggman asked.

Sonic's vision was getting blurry and blacker, but he still managed to fight off the sedative for a few more seconds.

He whispered, "I said… (He managed to repeat himself)."

He then closed his eyes and his head fell to the side, as he fell into a deep sleep.

Eggman just stood there in shock.

He could've sworn that Sonic the Hedgehog, his rival had just said 'thank you'.

**XXX**

**To be continued…**


	4. The Operation

Chapter 4: The Operation

**Well, here you are guys, my newest chapter. I'm just surprised over the number of reviews I got! Thanks so much for motivating me, guys! Keep them coming and hopefully, it'll get the next chapter up faster!**

**Enjoy!**

Eggman's POV:

'_I said…Thank you, Eggman…'_

That was the last thing Sonic the Hedgehog had said to me. I couldn't believe that he had actually expressed his gratitude to me; the one person that he most likely hated for ruining his life. Although, I probably felt that Sonic actually enjoyed this life; a life of thrills and excitement, with us fighting against one another.

I, personally had also found it to be quite amusing also; every time that I had tried to take over the world, Sonic would be there to stop me, no matter how dire the situation; no matter the odds against him,even if the situation looked bleak for him, he'd still thwart my plans at world domination.

That hedgehog would destroy every robot that I had created; months to years of planning and perfection…gone…in a mere matter of only minutes. And after I had failed, I would return to the drawing board and try to think of new methods and possibilities to take over the world and destroy my nemesis forever.

This was my life; an entertaining life of new challenges to overcome, every single time that Sonic had defeated me and my nefarious schemes.

And now, here he was; my greatest rival, critically wounded, lying on one of my many operating tables, in my base, in the middle of nowhere. He was fully sedated and lying near complete stillness. But, the only giveaway that he was still alive was the slow and steady rise and fall of his chest.

I then thought back to how it had gotten this way…

Sonic had stepped in front of me before a giant grizzly bear had attacked me. But what could've pushed him into saving me, despite just moments before I had threatened him and was considering in leaving him to his death.

When I saw him lying there in a pool of his own blood and at Death's door, I decided to ask him why he did it. He then answered me…

'_Good or bad, Eggman…You're still a person…'_

That answer changed something in me and I knew that it was one which I'd never forget. Did Sonic actually see something…more…in me, a cruel and lonely tyrant? Something…different about me that marked me out above all the others?

Every rare occasion that I can take the opportunity to look into those piercing emerald eyes of his, it's as though he's not looking at me, but into me and through me; looking deep into my soul, observing and learning about me that way. It made me shudder, just thinking about that theory.

And now, I look over at the monitors that are still displaying all the damage that Sonic had sustained during our encounter and other stats about him. If I don't do something, he'll be dead before morning.

It was then that I looked at said hedgehog, with tears forming in my eyes. I suddenly realized what he meant:

Sonic had never really held a true grudge against me; he never loathed me or had a desire to kill his worst enemy, despite everything that I did in life to Sonic.

How many times over the years had I tried to kill Sonic; to have him out of my way permanently? I can't remember…but it's too many and I feel bad about it all.

Then I thought that perhaps this is my chance to do something good and help Sonic. I then thought about my option of retiring.

I was an extremely talented doctor and I had performed many operations during my life, but then I decided that this was the last one that I would perform. The patients that I saw come through the doors and helped each year were 90% human and 10% animal. I just considered myself lucky that I also studied on animal anatomy also.

I then decided that I might even consider performing one last project; one last scheme before I fully retired and thought about my future; perhaps I would find an heir and a few more hobbies during that time. I had also hoped to break and enslave Sonic at some point.

I then traversed across the room towards the operating table, preparing to operate on Sonic. When I was fully prepared, with a few Med-bots around me, I began to take a better look at Sonic's wounds, starting with the most critical one on the hedgehog's side.

I removed my crimson jacket that was still wrapped around Sonic's gashes to prevent him from bleeding to death. The material was practically adhesive to the hedgehog's body and was saturated in blood. I was now really relieved that I had decided to sedate Sonic; it would make performing the operation a whole lot easier and stop me from being too distracted by the hedgehog's cries and moans of pain. But what I found was something that I'd never expect. When I saw it, I closed my eyes from the shock and disgust; I felt tears run down my cheeks.

Sonic's left side was completely torn apart; two deep gashes were on his side. The third and less minor one was on his left arm. The bear's claw was embedded in the skin and the knife-like tip was extremely close to the hedgehog's heart. If I removed it wrong, it could cause Sonic's heart to explode.

I could clearly see Sonic's lung inside the open gashes; it was also bleeding from being ruptured. The ribs were broken and had to be mended or removed.

I began by placing a scissors with small, blunt hooks at the end into the wound to hold it open more to see the claw. I then acquired some large tweezers and once I had a good grip on the claw, I slowly and carefully pulled it out. Once I'd removed it, I sighed with relief, since nothing on Sonic's stats or monitors had changed. My hopes were then dashed as soon as I heard Sonic's heart rate beating faster; the hedgehog was going into shock.

As his heart rate accelerated to an even more elevated and significantly dangerous rate, I looked around for a needle that I'd left somewhere in the room; it would cure his shock and slow his heart rate down. I bent down to look in the cupboards around the room and then I heard the worst sound in the world; the never ending long, continuous and steady beep of the heart monitor, when the heart has stopped beating.

"Oh, no…NO!"

I then got up and ran towards Sonic while pushing past some of my Med-bots out of my path. The blue blur was no longer breathing and a stream of blood was trickling down his muzzle from his mouth.

"Come on, Sonic! Breathe!" I shouted as I started to press my hands onto his chest. "Get me the defibrillator, stat!" I told one of my robots standing beside me.

I was still applying pressure to a lifeless Sonic's heart to try and get it going again, when the robot came back with the defibrillator. I took it out of its metallic hands and started to apply electric shocks to Sonic's body. "CLEAR! …No! Come On! CLEAR!"

After pressing the defibrillator a few times on Sonic, his heart still wasn't beating properly and the heart monitor still showed flat line. I was starting to give up on the defibrillator, but I wasn't going to give up on Sonic. So, I went to my last resort.

I opened a drawer on my main desk in the room and unlocked a cabinet in it by inserting a 6-digit code. Once it opened, I pulled out a long needle. I was afraid of this needle; its serum was still untested and who knew what side-effects were in it. If it worked, however, it would hopefully revive Sonic, so I had no other option or choice. I ran back to Sonic and held the needle high above the hedgehog's chest. "Come on, Sonic!" I said, while raising the needle higher.

I then drove it down, straight into Sonic's heart and injected the serum into him. I then removed the needle once it was empty. Then, I stood there and waited.

After what felt like forever, I then heard the distinctive sound of the heart rate monitor running back up again. I sighed with extreme relief and felt drops of sweat running down my face. My adrenaline was racing through my veins and my heart pounded against my chest.

But, I had to keep going; that was only the first phase of the operation and Sonic wasn't out of danger yet. It was going to be a long night…

*3 Hours later…*

I was finally finished and stepped back to admire my work. Sonic was still asleep, but he looked much cleaner and had sterile bandages wrapped all over his body. His left arm was in a firm, hard cast.

I was exhausted from the events, so, I told my team of robots to wheel Sonic to a recovery room and turn on the machines inside the room, that were hooked up to the bed. These machines would heal Sonic, and also replicate and duplicate his blood cells at an accelerated pace, all while he slept on the bed.

As soon as I saw Sonic leave the room, I headed towards my private quarters in the base. I then saw a familiar robot standing outside my bedroom door; he was guarding it. I then had an idea; instead of guarding me, he could keep guard over Sonic. "You there! Keep an eye on Sonic! If something happens or if he wakes up, get me immediately!" I commanded. "ACKNOWLEDGED! AFFIRMATIVE!" The robot replied with a gleam in its red eyes and then left towards the recovery wards.

*3 Days later…*

Sonic was still in the recovery room, sleeping, but he hadn't stirred at all since the day he was found. His wounds were fully healed so I decided that the cast and bandages could come off. I removed his feeding tube first, so it would be easier. I'd connected it to Sonic's stomach after the organ had healed, so, he could get the proper nourishment that he desperately needed. I also injected a strong painkiller into his bloodstream every day when the previous one wore off and Sonic started to moan in pain.

I then got a scissors and began to cut off the bandages and cast. Once I was done, I observed Sonic's body. He looked as good as new; there were no more injuries, except for two large scars across the hedgehog's stomach. They stretched from Sonic's shoulder, towards his heart and stopped on said organ.

*4 Days later*

Normal POV:

It had been a week since the encounter. It was silent in the base and no one was moving. The only sign of life in the base was a blue hedgehog stirring. He was quietly groaning and moaning as he was coming round.

**To be continued…**


	5. Breaking Point

Chapter 5: Breaking Point

**Hello everyone! **

**Credit for certain lines and scenes goes to:**

**IOnlyWriteBigStories.**

**RAWN89**

**ASteadfastHeartofGold**

**Tara-Nea**

**Thanks for the ideas guys!**

Sonic's POV:

'_Ah…Wh-Where am I?'_ I thought to myself once I felt awake enough to think.

My consciousness finally came back to me; I woke up rested despite everything that had happened. The first thing that came back to me was feeling. I felt something soft beneath me and something warm above me. My head felt as though a truck had hit me, however.

'_I'm lying on a bed with a blanket draped over me, up to my shoulders'_, I thought to myself. _'I must be in a hospital. Damn! I hate hospitals! Oh well, at least it's warm in here!'_

I then trusted my sense of hearing, instead of my sight to tell me about my surroundings. I heard the unmistakable sounds of machines beeping and humming; probably displaying my stats and keeping me alive.

'_Wait a minute…A hospital?' How did I end up here? The last thing that I can remember was lying down in the snow and…'_ I then moved my arms to my sides. I then slid my left arm down my left side, feeling two strange lines across my stomach and then I moved lower to feel my ribs, only that they couldn't be felt anymore, just skin and meat; lots of meat. _'Feels like I've been well fed…was being alone in the snow, lost and hungry just a dream?'_

I then decided to rub my right side with my right hand. As I began to go lower, I couldn't help but recall the same soothing, stroking motion that Eggman did to help calm me down as I lay there on the lab table from being terribly injured from the attack.

And in that same moment…it hit me with as much force, similar to running into a brick wall at my speeds. _'Eggman! I must be in HIS hospital! That was no dream! This is literally a nightmare!'_

Just thinking about my rival changed everything about the room that I was now in; I had been captured! The bed wasn't warm and comfortable anymore…it was cold and restraining. The machines that I heard around me were hazards to my health and probably robotizing me. That was probably why I could now move my shattered arm; it was robotic. I then started to panic, struggle and squirm, as I attempted to move my body from fear of being strapped down to the bed and awaiting my fate.

The only thing was that there were no straps or shackles restraining me and while I was thrashing and flailing, I didn't see the edge of the bed and fell off

…Only to be caught before my face hit the hard metal ground that I could see my reflection in.

"Who?" I said and I was then turned around. My emerald coloured eyes met with the blood red eyes of my robotic duplicate.

I swallowed "M-Metal S-S-Sonic." I said in a shaky voice. I couldn't control my fear of being killed by my metallic copy right here and now. I then started to struggle, trying to get out of his grip that he held firm on my arms. But he just held onto me. I then tried to kick him, since my legs were free, but he was just out of my range; it was hopeless. I then looked away, but he forced me to look at him again. Then, out of all the struggling, I then remembered that if it wasn't for Metal, I would've fallen off my bed! _'…Wait, Metal Sonic helped me?'_

And when, I heard his voice, I was a bit taken aback.

"**Apologies, Sonic, But my master wishes to see you once you're awake. He had urgent matters to discuss." **He then released his grip on me and I walked away from him; then turned around to confront him.

Metal's new voice chip was a lot less scary than his original one, which made your skin crawl and hairs stand on your back. It felt calmer, but I wasn't letting my guard down, so I replied. "And what would he like to discuss, you bag of bolts?"

"**Please, go easy on the insults, if you know what's good for you. I'm only here to help you, at the moment that is… We should get going."**

I just stood there frozen. _'…OK. This was new.'_ But then, I replied back. "Help me with what, exactly?" I asked my metal duplicate.

Metal Sonic just answered, **"Why, the reason you're here, of course! Would you find your way to my master without my help in one of his biggest fortresses?"**

I just remained quiet at that question; All of Eggman's bases were huge, maze-like and difficult to navigate. Hundreds of traps would lie between the doctor and me. Instead, I had another question for my metallic copy.

"And what exactly am I here for?" I asked my inorganic copy while crossing my arms. But Metal Sonic just pointed down at my body, so, I looked down. I then saw not one single mark on me; no more pain, cuts, scratches or wounds. There wasn't even a single bandage on me…it was as though nothing had happened to me. Then I remembered the two strange lines that I'd felt previously on my left side when I ran my hand along it. I decided to take a glance, out of curiosity. That was when I saw the two large scars across my body, running from my shoulder to my heart.

"Why the heck did he do this?" I shouted out in complete shock; I'd never expected my rival to help me. Clearly, something was up and I intended to find out what Egghead's intentions were.

"**I'm sorry, Sonic. But that reason is classified. Even I'm forbidden to access that data file; it must be a top secret project that my master is working on. My master had even made me guard you all this time until you've awakened."** Metal Sonic responded.

"So…what happens now?" I asked him, a little bit afraid of the answer, since it sounded as though his task was completed.

"**I must go to my master, hedgehog. He's expecting me to report to him soon."**

Metal had filled me in on everything; he had probably even filled in too many blanks in my mind. I just had a few more questions to ask him; ones that were on my mind and made my head throb. "What time is it?"

"**It's 17:53 PM" **

Now that I knew the time, however, I'd started to get more suspicious; these wounds wouldn't have just healed overnight. Then I asked him my next question. "How long was I out?"

"**The operation ended 183 hours and 23 minutes ago"**

"Er…in _**plain **_English, Metal me!"

"**7 days, 17 hours and 50 minutes; that's how long you've been out of it." Metal then replied.**

"What? A whole week?" _'Dang, these guys were really specific on their logic; I wonder if Eggman could really match their intelligence with his so called I.Q of 300.'_ I had to scoff mentally at that thought.

"**Affirmative, Sonic…"** My metal copy then pointed towards a trolley beside my bed. **"Now eat…"** he commanded to me. **"I'll be back soon."** He then added. Then he left the room and slammed the door shut. How I had never stirred when he slammed the door shut like that was a miracle.

After a few seconds, when I was certain that he'd left the vicinity, I decided to try the door. To my horror and expected bad luck, it was locked securely from the outside. I guessed that Metal had a key card on him that enabled him to leave at will. I just groaned and sighed at my defeat and took a look around the room that now qualified as my room. At least it wasn't too Eggman-ish. It actually had a window that thankfully wasn't barred.

Then, it hit me; another escape route! I dashed over there and managed to open the window. But to my dismay, nothing but water could be seen when looking out, making it unsuitable for me, a hyperactive, high-speed, but hydrophobic hedgehog. At least a fresh breeze was blowing in, refreshing me. The wind rushing up to greet me only reminded me of how free I used to be before I had ended up here. I felt trapped. The room didn't look like a cell, at first glance, but it certainly felt like one; one that I couldn't even run around in.

I then walked up to the trolley to take a look at what meal I had been left with. It was a bowl of soup and a glass of water. I then pondered about if I should eat it, or not. _'Since when did the doctor care about my health? I'm probably the last patient on his mind. Maybe he wants me healthy before using me as a lab rat on one of his many experiments.' _I grimaced at the thought. _'He's probably laced it with drugs to weaken me and render me powerless.' _

After those thoughts, I was positive about my decision to leave the trolley alone. Instead, I saw my gloves, socks and shoes beside my bed. They had been polished and cleaned. I didn't hesitate in putting them on; my runners were the only things that protected my feet from burning up, when I reached extreme speeds. I'd need them if I was ever to escape this place. Personally, I felt naked without my clothes. I was just astounded that Egghead had left them in the same room for me; maybe he was slipping.

After placing my clothes on, I then flopped onto my bed and faced the door, staring calculatingly at it, contemplating on how to get out once Metal returned from his customary report to the scientist. After a while, I don't know how long, since there was no clock in the room, I started to lose focus on the door and decided to rest my eyes for a bit.

XXX

I awoke to someone poking me, trying to wake me up. My metallic duplicate had returned to check on me after his report. I cursed mentally for dozing off, instead of paying attention on my only possible route of escape. I then scowled at Metal Sonic. "What do you want, metal me?"

"**My master wishes to see you right away…"** He then got up and activated the door with his I.D card.

To my amazement, it opened; I then thought that perhaps I could steal it from Metal, whenever he wasn't looking. The blue robot then stood in the middle of the doorframe; then he stopped and turned his head to me.

"…**Come with me." **He replied.

I took one nervous, shaky step towards the door, followed by a second and a third. Soon, I was walking behind Metal Sonic, through the endless long corridors, being led to Chaos-knows where Eggman was.

We then entered a room that looked like an office. The room was dimly lit; just enough to see everything and thankfully not too bright either. It was all basked in an orange glow.

Eggman was sitting at his desk in the centre of the room. It appeared as though he was writing something on a piece of paper. When Metal closed the door behind me and left, the doctor looked up; we were both alone in the room.

"Ah, Sonic!" The doctor exclaimed. "So nice to see that you've survived!" He announced in that old tone that I always knew; clearly, nothing had changed between us. I then decided to make a snarky and confident comeback; I was healed and well fed, which boosted my confidence. Metal was gone, so nothing was holding me back either. I then found it curious that I wasn't strapped down, had chains wrapped around me or was put into a reinforced cage.

"Heh…" I snorted with amusement. "I'll survive you by years, old man!" I replied with confidence and a grin.

"Hmmm…By years, maybe…but that only depends on if you can survive here first, hedgehog!"

My grin of confidence then dropped to curiosity upon that remark. "What do you mean by that, Baldy McNosehair?"

I then saw the doctor getting angry over the last insulting nickname that I came up with. He then held up his left arm that had a strap, with a red button on it. "This is what I mean, Sonic!" He replied coldly, while he pressed the button.

As soon as he pressed that button, I felt a huge pressure on my chest, where my heart was. Then I felt electric shocks running through my body; it was extremely painful.

"Argh!" I yelped in pain and fell to my knees, clutching my heart.

The doctor then released the button and the pain stopped. I was on my hands, sweating and panting. "What did you do to me?" I asked between gasps for breath.

"I saved your life, hedgehog. I healed, fed you and surgically implanted a micro-computer chip into your heart to keep it beating. But this comes at a price for you; it's mine to turn off at will. So, my advice to you is this: Do as I say and you'll live. Oh, and don't bother trying to escape the base; once the perimeter fence detects your chip outside the perimeter, the neurotoxin inside the chip will be activated.

I then growled loudly in my throat; I never should've trusted Eggman. My blood was starting to boil, making me feel sick.

"Why you-!" I growled and then charged towards the doctor at full speed.

Eggman just smirked at this; it was as though he had anticipated and expected me to perform this stunt. He then pressed a black button on the same strap. In that instant, I felt an extreme chill shooting down my spine and collapsed to the floor, near where the doctor stood; I couldn't even move a muscle. I was paralyzed from the legs down. As I lifted my face off the floor with my hands, my rival spoke to me.

"I see you've found out about the computer chip in your heart and now the shock collar around your neck much quicker than I had expected. If you attack me, then the collar will emit a shock."

As I listened to his explanation, I reached up to my neck. There was something flat and smooth around my neck; definitely a collar. I mentally groaned at this. _'What am I, Eggman's pet or something?'_

"Oh, and there's something else I forgot to tell you."

"*Groan* What now?"

"You are now my pet; docile, broken and obedient, and you will do as I say, or else…" The doctor replied.

'_WHAT…HIS PET? Yeah right.' _I then decided that I should reply. "Right…and you just got skinny, fat lard."

I could practically see the vein popping out of the scientist's head at that last comment. He definitely detested insults about his weight. The next shock that I received was more painful than the first and the doctor wouldn't stop holding it down. I then gave up, when I couldn't take it anymore.

"Alright, alright! I'll do it…I'll be your pet!" I spat. Eggman then released the pressure on the button and the pain immediately disappeared.

'_At least until I take that strap off your arm and escape.'_ I then thought cunningly.

"A wise choice, Sonic. Otherwise I would have one prisoner in one of my many advanced high-security cells. Or, a brand new fur coat for my wardrobe and a hunting trophy in my living suite." The doctor remarked with a conceited look on his face.

"Humph!" I grunted and looked away with disgust. After a few seconds, when I managed to calm myself down, I replied, "So what now?" in a much calmer voice.

Eggman then glanced up at the clock that was mounted on the office wall. It was 7 O' clock in the evening. "It's time for dinner; I'm sure Metal has cooked something nice for us. Let's go, Sonic!"

I just thought about that thought; Metal cooking…impossible! So, I just thought to myself. _'And the Queen of Mobius is right outside the door…dream on, Egghead!'_

I stood there thinking for a moment as Eggman walked on. It wasn't until I felt a small warning shock that I moved on, walking behind my rival and heading towards some unknown place in the base. I was now his pet, his slave and there was nothing I could do.

'_I don't know how it could get any worse…'_

XXX

**To be continued…**


	6. Dinner and a Show

Chapter 6: Dinner and a Show

**Credit for certain lines and scenes in this chapter goes to Tara-Nea's "How to keep a Hedgehog" on DA. Also to LoveAnimations1998 and IOnlyWriteBigStories. Thanks guys!**

'_Yeah, it just got worse…a whole lot worse.' _Sonic thought.

Eggman and his 'pet', Sonic entered what qualified as the dining room, with a large table and set of chairs surrounding it. There were a vast number of candles illuminating the room, making the environment look calmer.

"It's been a while since I had company…Why don't you go into the kitchen and tell Metal Sonic what you would like to eat." The doctor replied to Sonic, while pointing to a door.

Sonic just nodded silently and went inside. He walked up towards the double doors, pushed them open and was treated to a very much unexpected sight. An army of robots (Egg-pawns) were in the kitchen, all wearing aprons and either standing at pots, cleaning, moving around carrying ingredients for meals or doing some other type of task in the kitchen. Sonic was able to pick up a thousand scents instantly as soon as he entered the kitchen. He could distinguish the scents of meat, fish, steaming vegetables and freshly baked bread mingling with the smoke and steam being emitted from the cookers, stoves and ovens.

The blue hedgehog stepped inside slowly; his eyes were wide as he attempted to take everything in. He was nervous upon entering the kitchen, as all the bots turned to face him as soon as he entered. In that moment, Sonic's heart stopped as all their eyes fell upon him and the blue blur knew well enough already that he couldn't disobey his 'master' and attack a robot or he'd be in for a shock. Then suddenly, they all looked away and returned to their tasks. Relief flooded Sonic's body and the tense flight or fight feeling began to vanish. As he walked along the red bots, his eyes noticed a slightly smaller blue bot in the corner of the room; one that had the exact same fur colour as himself. Metal Sonic was wearing a chef hat and an apron that thankfully had no frills on it like a maid's. The blue hedgehog walked up to his robotic duplicate and swallowed.

"One chilidog, Metal me!"

XXX

*A few minutes later*

Eggman was sitting at the dining table in the next room, waiting for his dinner and for his pet to return from the kitchen. _'What's taking that hedgehog so long? All he had to do was order and return to me. I guess he's going through the supplies.'_

Just as Eggman was thinking that maybe Sonic had escaped, Metal Sonic entered the room, carrying a huge dish with a lid over it. "Thanks, Metal…By the way, have you seen your organic duplicate?"

"**Negative, Master… I haven't seen him."** The robot replied.

The doctor was getting suspicious but he ignored it; Sonic wouldn't get far and decided to give him a sporting chance head start before hunting him down, just to make the game seem fair. "Very well…Where's my steak?" The evil scientist asked his head chef and servant.

"**Right here!"** The robot replied, while he placed the dish on the table and lifted the lid.

And in that same moment, Eggman lost his appetite.

Sonic the Hedgehog, still alive (thankfully) was tied up on a silver platter; his hands and ankles were bound by vines. An assortment of fruits and vegetables were surrounding him. He had an apple lodged in his mouth and gravy had been poured all over his head and back spines. "Muft!" (Help!) He begged; emerald eyes pleading.

"What the heck is this?!" Eggman shouted after recovering from the shock of seeing his rival like this.

"**Roast stuffed hedgehog! A fine speciality and delicacy!"** Metal Sonic replied.

As the robot explained, Eggman untied Sonic and removed the apple from his mouth. The doctor then grabbed Metal Sonic by the throat and pulled him closer. While holding his servant in one hand, the scientist used his other free hand to slap him. The blue robot's head spun round and round. Metal then used both his clawed hands to stop his head from spinning; this made the red irises spin in the black part of his eyes.

"You stupid bucket of bolts; we do not cook pets; Sonic is part of the household now! Leave now and find me a Chaos Emerald!" Eggman commanded; his voice filled with rage.

Metal desperately wanted to refuse his mission, but it was against his programming, so he had to comply no matter what. He left the dining room in a huff, giving a death glare at Sonic, who was now standing behind Eggman. Delight crept into the blue hedgehog's face at witnessing his robotic duplicate's misfortune and he waved mockingly at him. As soon as Metal Sonic slammed the door behind him however, the doctor then turned around to his pet. Sonic dropped his arm and sarcastic grin immediately before the doctor saw what he was doing.

"And as for you, Sonic…"

"Y-Yeah…" the blue hedgehog replied and backed a few steps away from his master since he felt vulnerable. He was saturated in gravy that was still dripping down his body and onto the floor. His stomach had distended because Metal had stuffed breadcrumbs down Sonic's throat before serving him as a meal to his creator and master. A few steps later, Sonic found himself backed up against a wall; there was nowhere else for him to go. He swallowed and was convinced that he could feel the collar, that he deeply resented tightening around his neck. He would never forgive Eggman for this; collared like a common pet by his rival; it was humiliating.

"It's time for a bath."

Sonic's ears pricked up at this and his eyes widened at the last word that the doctor had mentioned.

"No…" he whispered, so that only he could hear; but it contained all the horror and fear in the hedgehog's heart.

*Ten Minutes Later*

"No! No, no, NOOOOOO!" Sonic roared out, desperately squirming and struggling against his captor. Eggman had finally managed to leash him, by attaching a chain to his pet's collar and dragged him along. He used the 'look, over there!' joke and Sonic had fallen for it.

Now the hedgehog was squirming and clawing at the ground and furniture; whatever he could get his paws and claws on or into. He was hissing and swearing at the scientist and had already earned a few shocks from the collar, a few slaps off the ground from his legs becoming paralyzed whenever he disobeyed an order or tried to attack Eggman and even a smack on the rear for his attitude.

"*Grunt* Why…do you *Gasp*…have to make this *Pant*…so hard?" The doctor asked between pulls and tugs.

"You should know by now…" Sonic replied while desperately clawing the floor in an attempt to stop this madness and try to escape.

It was true. All his life, Sonic hated water in all its forms.

Solid – Ice – It was hard for Sonic to retain traction over the slippery surface, making it almost impossible to run on and made him a sitting duck.

Liquid – Water – He couldn't swim; he'd sink like a rock and had no traction when it rained heavily, making him useless in fights as he slipped and slid all over the battle-field.

Gas – Steam – Sonic hated the accursed liquid going into his quills and fur and then running down his body. It made his coat heavier and uncomfortable.

Eggman then gave him another unreadable look, like before and headed towards the bathroom. When they were near the washroom, Sonic finally spoke and tried to protest. "Look, it wasn't MY fault. Metal wanted to serve me for dinner. He…" The blue hedgehog then went silent when the doctor had entered the bathroom with his pet in tow.

The blue blur then saw the bath; like all baths, it was long and deep. It was even more intensified when you're a smaller hedgehog. His worst nightmare was coming through.

"Please…" Sonic whimpered with his ears, quills and tail lowered.

"Into the shower, Sonic!" Eggman then commanded.

The blue hedgehog had actually perked up a little upon hearing this; he could handle a shower FAR better than a bath at least, since he was only standing in about two inches of water, tops at a time. He then proceeded to remove his gloves, socks and runners. He then entered the huge shower stall and started to close the door.

The only problem was that Eggman was in the way.

"Umm…you seem to be in the shower…" Sonic announced thoughtlessly and abruptness. He then noticed that the doctor had removed his boots, coat and gloves. His pants had been rolled up to his knees. The blue hedgehog then had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach and his heart started to race.

"Yes, Sonic… an owner usually washes their pets and I like to keep my possessions clean and in top condition" Eggman replied.

"Wha-?! Get out of here! I can wash myself – Agh!" Sonic cried out in surprise as he felt the warning shock emitting from his collar. He then knew that if he kept resisting the Doctor's orders, he'd end up completely helpless on the shower floor. Sonic then sighed quietly and gave in; after all you can still drown in only about an inch of water.

"I'd advise you to calm down; you'll be fine!" Eggman assured him as the human reached for the shower head.

Sonic could only feel his stomach clench in a knot as the water was turned on. Eggman first tested the temperature on his hand and then ran it along the blue hedgehog's side. The blue blur wanted to whimper and squirm badly; he was afraid of water. The shower wasn't as bad as a bath, but it was still water outside his control and he was scared. Sonic's ears went flat against his head, his tail went between his legs, his fangs were bared in fear and his eyes were squeezed shut. His whimpers were caught in his throat and he used his gloveless hands in an attempt to find some form of stabilization against the smooth wall.

Once he was rinsed, with an even darker blue fur colour, Eggman worked some shower gel on his hands into lather and started to rub it down the blue hedgehog. Sonic's emerald eyes shot open from the surprise as he was being washed and scrubbed by his own rival. Longer and larger, furless and unfamiliar hands trailing down his fur and skin, going where he didn't want them or didn't expect them to be; it was absolutely humiliating for him.

After Sonic was fully washed, the doctor then dried him with a large towel. The blue hedgehog was now silent and barely struggled anymore; he even put back on his clothes when the doctor kindly asked him to.

They then left the washroom and walked down the hallway without saying a word. Sonic was thinking that Eggman actually hadn't been cruel to him at all; the shocks were only for misbehaving, disobedience or resistance. He also felt that his resentment for the doctor was fading away and the blue blur wasn't too scared anymore.

"Are you alright, Sonic? You seem quieter than normal." Eggman finally spoke, concerned about his pet and breaking the silence. It was sufficient to disrupt Sonic's thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" The blue hedgehog replied while rubbing his left side.

Eggman took notice of Sonic's discomfort. "I didn't hurt you in the shower, did I?" the scientist asked while examining the blue blur's side, by holding up his arm. Sonic did struggle and squirm during the shower, but it was only from an uncomfortable situation; two of his worst fears in the same room as himself.

Sonic, however just shook his head, surprised at Egghead's concern. "No really, it's fine." The azure coloured hedgie replied; his voice was a little quieter this time. He then yawned quietly, but Eggman heard him.

"You're tired…" The doctor stated.

"Heh…no I'm not…" Sonic replied, but his eyelids and ears were drooping and his 'master' had the ability to read him like a book.

Eggman then looked at the time. It was 22:30pm.

"It's time for bed anyway; let's go, Sonic." The scientist responded and the blue hedgehog followed him.

XXX

Soon, they arrived into a large bedroom that qualified as Eggman's, with some comfortable velvet coated furniture and a large king-sized double bed.

"Lie down on the bed and wait for me; I'll be back in a moment." The scientist replied and retreated into the next room.

Sonic stood there for a minute after Eggman departed. He looked around the room with curiosity and fascination. The blue hedgehog then massaged his neck from nervousness and was reminded about his status here when he felt the collar. He then saw a long cheval mirror in the corner of the room and decided to have a fast glance at himself.

The moment he saw his reflection staring back at him, surprise overcame him and he stopped to have a better look. He saw another blue hedgehog looking back. It looked to be in its peak condition with a full stomach and a glossy blue fur coat. Sonic then concluded that it was thanks to Metal Sonic stuffing the breadcrumbs down his throat and then serving him up as some culinary delight and then there was Eggman who decided to take the advantage of owning a pet seriously by giving him a wash.

He then looked at the two scars that lay on top of his left shoulder and then moved all the way down to his heart. Then Sonic noticed the black collar locked around his neck. It had small white metal orbs embedded in it, possibly used for measurements on the hedgehog's vitals and his location, or simply just for show. All in all, he still would never forgive his rival for marking him as a pet; HIS PET!

Sonic then quickly went up onto the bed and lay down on his side, on one side of the bed. He was already getting too familiar with his role as a pet, but he didn't want to be shocked again for not following an order. The blue hedgehog was just surprised that Eggman hadn't shocked him for quite a while; he was starting to believe that the doctor was already trusting him and letting his guard down. Maybe escaping this base would come sooner than the blue blur thought. His back spines started to bristle as excitement coursed through his veins.

The azure hedgehog's thoughts on escaping were then abruptly interrupted as Eggman returned. The blue blur looked up at the doctor and then rolled completely over on his side in the opposite direction, facing away from the scientist. He had managed to stifle a snicker and keep a straight face from the sight that he had just beheld; Egghead was wearing red and white striped pyjamas and had a night cap atop his head.

Sonic then felt the doctor joining with him on the other side of the bed, but the blue hedgehog still stayed exactly where he was, using his senses to try and predict what Eggman was going to do next.

But he never expected what was going to happen next…

The blue blur felt the familiar sensation on his side; the same feeling that he felt on the operating table when Eggman was stroking his side. Sonic bit his lip at this pleasurable feeling; he didn't want to give away that he was enjoying this. He then however, felt his cheeks and ears growing warmer.

"You can be yourself if you want to, Sonic; I won't fault or punish you. I know that you're enjoying this as much as I am." The human then moved his hand from the blue hedgehog's side down to his fawn coloured stomach.

Sonic then knew that he couldn't take it anymore; this felt nice.

"AHH!" Sonic moaned. He then turned his head around towards the doctor. "Why did you save me?" He asked with curiosity.

"Well because you saved me, Sonic." Eggman replied calmly.

Sonic then scoffed due to the fact that he was being massaged by his rival. "Are you sure it's not another reason, like, I don't know, you're in love with me or something?"

The doctor was taken aback by this question. "W-what… no way!"

"Then why the heck are you doing this?" He asked dizzily; a blush was clear on his muzzle.

"That's a very good question…" Eggman then pondered about it for a moment and then answered. "…but I think the reason is simply this: I've always wanted a companion; I'm just a lonely man surrounded by powerful machines. I love power and want to be forever surrounded by it, whether it's machines…or even you…an extremely powerful creature that I've never been able to defeat. I have never even been able to copy your power of speed. Throughout the years, I've seen that you've developed a special bond with the Chaos Emeralds and developed different abilities. What impresses me the most however, is your ability to filter and withstand large amounts of certain Chaos energies; something that could prove useful to me."

As he was explaining this, the doctor kept watching Sonic squirming and trying to resist relaxing with a certain satisfaction. "I don't mind confessing that you've always fascinated me, Sonic. Is it any wonder that I want you around as yourself; still alive and not robotized? And after all this time, I was really searching for an equal..."

"And what do you want to do now? I'm hardly your equal if you keep me collared like a pet, am I?" Sonic quickly retorted, with a voice a little raspier than what he wanted; again having to struggle to prevent himself from panting.

"I figured that I also want to make a counter balance to my previous destructive work…something creative and nourishing instead." The doctor added. He then gently pressed his hand into Sonic's abdomen; applying some pressure and forcing the blue hedgehog to lie on his back. The scientist then proceeded to perform scratching motions on the blue blur's fawn coloured stomach.

"OH! OOOoooohHHH!" Sonic cried out in pleasure his head sunk deeper into the pillow, panting heavily and his eyes closed in bliss.

"Your pelt is softer than I'd expected." Eggman complemented.

Upon hearing this, Sonic's emerald eyes opened slightly. He then proceeded to roll into Eggman, seeking even more warmth and comfort. He was happy to be welcomed with open arms that then embraced him.

"I can see that you're enjoying yourself, like me. I had heard that having a pet or companion is good for someone who is lonely or alone. And now, I've noticed that this theory actually works."

The doctor's fingers then started to rub and trail down Sonic's back. The blue hedgehog's only reply was purrs of content from this action; his back quills were relaxed, so the scientist's hands were safe from cuts.

Suddenly, a burst of wind blew around the room and Eggman found his 'pet' absent from the bed; he then saw him standing in the doorframe, holding something familiar in his hand.

"Tricked ya, Eggman! Did you really expect me to be THAT submissive?! Not in a million years! Now, if you'll excuse me…I'm outta here!" Sonic replied, while holding up the strap controlling him in triumph. As he was about to make his escape, a voice behind him stopped him.

"Oh, Sonic…Aren't you forgetting something?" Eggman replied.

"Heh…Oh yeah…like what?" Sonic asked with a smug grin of confidence, while glancing over his shoulder, back at the doctor.

"My backup plan!" Eggman retorted while rolling down the sleeve on his right arm, revealing a similar strap to the one Sonic was now holding. "All I have to do is press this little button and you're in for a shock!"

Sonic then whipped around, moved into a confident attack stance; ready to charge at Eggman at full speed. "Yeah…If you can push it before I grab it! He replied confidently with a sarcastic look on his face; confident that he'd win in a match of speed and reflexes against the scientist.

"I'd like to see you try…" Eggman retorted, but then he suddenly had a look of fear on his face.

Sonic was already charging at him; even before the words had left the doctor's mouth. He then pressed his finger on the button as the blue blur leapt into the air from the end of the bed and dived at him, with his teeth bared in aggression.

"AAaaaaarrggh!" A scream of pain could then be heard.

**XXX**

**To be continued…**


	7. Once Bitten, Twice Hurt

Chapter 7: Once Bitten, Twice Hurt

**Credit to LovesAnimations1998 for an idea. Thanks a lot!**

Sonic's POV:

Blood…

That was all that was on my mind; I could see it, smell it and taste it in my mouth. The only other sense that I was using were my ears and the only sound that I could hear was a scream of extreme pain and agony.

But it wasn't a scream that had emitted from my own mouth; it had come from the person beneath me and it was music to my ears, compared to listening to my own scream of pain.

I then looked down at Eggman and saw that he was looking at me; his face had shown a mixed expression of fear, awe and disbelief. The doctor was speechless and powerless as he looked towards his arm with the strap on it. I then followed his gaze with my eyes and I saw something that I would never forget and probably never forgive myself for it…

Eggman's arm was covered in blood; the strap was broken, so he couldn't harm me anymore. What was worse was that there were two deep cuts on the scientist's wrist; bite marks made by fangs; my fangs. I had bitten Eggman. I then licked the blood of my mouth and it had a disgusting metallic taste.

I then performed a backflip and landed at the end of the bed. Then I dashed out the door and down the hallway.

Before I disappeared, I turned back to look at my rival one last time and gave him an apologetic look via my body language.

Not long after that, I heard the alarms going off.

I ran and ran inside the base, looking for the exit and thrashing every robot that stood in my way. When I was alone, I kept hearing thoughts racing inside my head. I closed my emerald eyes and held my spiky blue head in my gloved hands. I didn't notice more robots approaching me, getting closer and closer until they were almost on top of me.

'_You bit Eggman, a human! You are no hero!'_ A voice said.

"Stop…" I whispered.

'_You're not a hedgehog…You're a monster!'_ Another voice said coldly.

"S-Stop…" I replied.

'_When word gets out, everyone will want your head!'_ A third voice hissed at me.

"Stop it!" I shouted louder, but still the voices wouldn't cease.

"STOP!" I roared. At the same time, something had suddenly built up inside of me, then it immediately exploded and was emitted as a powerful shockwave around me, knocking all the robots away from me and sending them into the metal walls that made up this base, breaking apart on impact.

As soon as my sight focused, I looked around me in disbelief. "Whoa…Where did THAT come from?" I asked myself. But there was no time to think about that; I had to get out of here. I then dashed towards what looked like an exit.

Normal POV:

Unbeknownst to Sonic, Eggman had seen everything.

"I don't believe it…It must be the serum; it's already affecting Sonic, making him more powerful than before…I must have that hedgehog!" The doctor muttered to himself while clutching his heavily bandaged arm.

XXX

Sonic had finally made it to the front door, after traversing Eggman's maze-like base. He was ducking and dodging the bullets being fired at him by several bots chasing him. All the shots had missed the blue hedgehog and instead hit priceless pieces of the doctor's equipment and machinery, causing fires to break out. This activated the fire extinguishers on the ceiling, causing water to go everywhere; even on Sonic's fur, soaking the blue hedgehog and making his fur uncomfortable.

The blue blur, growled out in frustration over this and performed a chain of homing attacks, defeating one robot after another. He then dashed through the last one as nothing more than a blue streak and the robot collapsed, with a metallic groan to the ground.

As soon as the last robot was destroyed, the large metal door opened and Sonic was met by a massive snowstorm. The blue hedgehog shivered at the drop in temperature, but soon, he adjusted to it and dashed into the blinding snow mist. As he ran outside, he felt his soaked fur start to dry and decided to look down at it. But what he saw surprised him; Ice was frozen everywhere on his body. It appeared as if Sonic was wearing a full suit of armour on his body. _'This isn't good…'_ The blue hedgehog thought to himself. But then he decided to ignore it.

Sonic then sped across the endless field of snow and then he saw the perimeter fence up ahead. He started to speed up; nothing to lose now!

Sonic suddenly felt a massive blow to the back of his spiked head and collapsed head first into the white snow below him. His eye sight was getting blurry from the hit. _'No…not now…Not when escape is so close!' _Sonic winced; his eye lids began to droop. _'No…must stay awake…' _Sonic was getting dizzy, but he forced himself to stay awake and get up; only to see a very familiar robot standing a few meters away with a Chaos Emerald in its claws.

Metal Sonic's mission had been successful and he returned to his master with his prize, which he would be rewarded for finding. How much more rewarding it would be when he had recaptured an escapee of his master.

Sonic then growled in disdain; Metal was blocking his way.

"Step aside, Metal me!"

"…" the robot didn't move.

Sonic the Hedgehog then charged at him at full speed and Metal did the same. The blue hedgehog was knocked back because he didn't have the power of a Chaos Emerald in his possession. As he got up, he heard more voices.

'_You're weak…you're nothing but a hunk of meat, a complete waste of space!'_

'_You're nothing without your other half…'_

'_Let me out!'_

"Stop it…Stop it! STOP IT!" Sonic screamed and emitted another shockwave. This time, it was more powerful and it left the blue blur weaker than before.

His metallic duplicate was knocked back. Once he recovered, he hovered forward to search for Sonic.

He found him, but there was something strange and different about him.

His quills were a darker shade of blue – almost black in colour. His emerald coloured eyes were now blood red and he had a dark, feral appearance with his claws and fangs being shown. What was even more frightening was the dark aura surrounding him and a look of rage on his face.

Dark Soul Sonic had been awakened.

"Finally, I'm free! Now to do some damage!"

Sonic then emitted a dark pulse from his hands and launched it at Eggman's base, instantly destroying a section of it on impact in a massive explosion. He then laughed manically. "Is that the best you've got, Ivan!? Stop me if you can! Here I come!" Sonic then sped toward the base, only to be intercepted by his metal copy. "Bring it on!" Sonic roared.

XXX

"Did he just say…Ivan?!" Eggman pondered. "How would Sonic know my ancestor's name? That was over 200 years ago…Could it be a side-effect due to the serum?"

XXX

After a vicious battle, Sonic had been defeated; he couldn't keep up his new dark form for long and fell to the ground, unconscious in the snow, weak from the attacks and his newfound powers. Metal Sonic picked up the blue hedgehog and carried him back to the base.

**XXX**

**To be continued...**

**P.S. Please see my profile.**


	8. Down in the Dumps

Chapter 8: Down in the Dungeon (Dumps)

**Hi guys!**

**Credit for certain lines in this chapter belongs to:**

**SonicGirl4Ever and IOnlyWriteBigStories**

**Thank you!**

**XXX**

'Ugt…Where am I?' Sonic thought as he was coming around.

He couldn't see very well and was surprised to feel something warm rubbing against his cheek. The blue hedgehog then saw a cloth being brushed against his muzzle. He could smell the overwhelming aroma of peroxide emitting from the material, and when he looked up, he saw that Eggman was the one holding it.

The blue blur then jerked his body away. He then felt something holding him back and glanced up at his wrists; he saw shackles with chains on them.

Sonic became annoyed over being immobilized due to the shackles and even more furious at his proximity to his enemy. He suddenly moved his face away. "Don't touch me!" the hedgehog angrily barked towards the scientist.

"And what? Leave that scratch to get infected?" Eggman replied. As the doctor then applied more peroxide to the blood stained rag, an extremely annoyed Sonic absentmindedly took a glimpse at Eggman's right arm; the one that was trying to disinfect the scratch that Metal Sonic gave to his organic counterpart during the fight. The azure hedgehog noticed something unusual. His emerald eyes spotted two large scars on the doctor's arm; they looked quite similar to his own on his shoulder. Was it just a coincidence on where had Sonic bitten Eggman during his escape?

Eggman then placed the cloth back onto the wound. Sonic moved his head away again. "Hands off!" He told the doctor with even more annoyance in his voice.

"I was just wondering how you were able to control it…" The scientist stated.

"Control what?" The blue hedgehog retorted.

"The serum that I created and injected into you when I was patching up that…" Eggman answered, while placing a large gloved finger on Sonic's two large scars that ran along his chest. "A priceless, unique serum that was being developed for medical research, used on a blue hedgehog to keep it alive. And then, all of a sudden, you get new powers; destroy half my base and then recall memories of the past from centuries ago." Eggman finished.

"New powers?" Sonic asked. "That explains the shockwave, but I don't remember anything after that." The chained hedgehog replied truthfully.

"So, you don't remember this?" Eggman then displayed the recorded videos from the security cameras surrounding his base to Sonic. They were displaying all the recorded footage of the night before.

Sonic just looked with shock and awe before responding after the video ended. "That wasn't me! I don't remember it!"

Eggman just gave him an unreadable look, but it had seemed that his enemy had not been convinced. The doctor then started pacing back and forth within the cell that Sonic was held captive in. "As you probably know by now, hedge-rat, I want many things. For example, I want to rule the world and build my Eggman Empire. I want everyone to cower in front of me and shiver when they hear my name. I also desire one more thing: Power. And as you already know, there are many types of "power". Political, electrical etc. But I don't want any of those…What I want is the ultimate power of the chaos energy from the Chaos Emeralds. And that's where you come in…" The scientist then leaned towards Sonic, who had a confused expression on his face. Eggman ignored his chained prisoner and continued pacing around the cell. "What I want from you is simple; a piece of your soul. The chaos energy resides within your soul and so does your power of speed. Throughout the battles, I've seen that you've developed a special bond with the Emeralds and developed many different abilities over the years. What impresses me the most however, is your ability to filter and withstand large amounts of Chaos energy and that is something that could prove useful to me. So, what I want from you is simple; do exactly as I say and you'll keep living." Eggman then finished his speech and grinned at Sonic, who simply looked at him also grinning.

"And if I say no…" the blue hedgehog asked casually, with a false hint of curiosity on his face. Personally he wanted to annoy the doctor, rather than get the answer. He loved to push other people's buttons, especially Eggman's.

"Then I guess that's when I'll have to force it out of you…" I'll just order the chips implanted in your body to shut down your body and brain functions. Then I'll just use your empty husk as a filter, though it won't be one of the same quality. Then I'll probably dissect you and extract your genes for further research and other uses…" Eggman was then amused when he saw Sonic's disturbed expression. "Tomorrow, the experiment will commence!" The doctor then announced. "Sleep well, Sonic… because you're going to need it." He replied coldly and then, he walked away, leaving Sonic chained to a wall in the cold, dark cell.

"Hey, wait! Let me down from here…EGGMAN!" Sonic roared. He then felt his throat starting to hurt from roaring.

Over the next few minutes, Sonic felt himself succumbing to a cold with frequent sneezes and coughs. He could them feel his eyes watering and felt a strong urge to wipe them, but he was denied this because of his restraints.

Several hours later, he realized he had a high fever due to feeling extremely hot. He was sweating and panting, in an attempt to maintain a stable temperature. His throat became inflamed and parched due to dehydration. He also felt disoriented and was starting to hallucinate at times. He moaned quietly from feeling so sick.

XXX

In the morning, Eggman and two large bots on either side of him entered Sonic's cell. The blue hedgehog was hanging limp on the wall with his head bowed down. But when he heard footsteps approaching the only cell occupied in the entire base, he changed his appearance from his weakened, sickly state to a more determined and strong appearance. Despite his fever and lack of sleep, Sonic wasn't going to show Eggman any weakness; it would only tell the doctor that he was winning.

"So, Sonic…How are you feeling today?" The doctor asked with fake concern and a grin on his face, as if amused. As soon as the blue hedgehog heard that question, he fully turned his head up and glared at the doctor. Eggman winced mentally at how suddenly intimidating the blue blur appeared, with his black, swollen eyes from exhaustion and his now red instead of white coloured eyes from the irritating tears that were now dried and stung his eyes.

Sonic didn't say a single word, but kept his eyes on the doctor, while he was being untied by the robots. Without another word the blue hedgehog was led away, with Egghead in the front and two bots on either side of Sonic, ready to attack and subdue him, if something went wrong.

Soon, they arrived in the lab section of the base; a part that wasn't completely destroyed by Sonic's rampage. This section was very advanced and reminded Sonic of a mixed version of a lab and the hospital that he was previously in when he first arrived here. It was still perfectly clean. They then entered a room. It had a lot of extremely complex equipment that Sonic could only guess their function. Most of it appeared to be advanced medical equipment and then, the blue hedgehog wondered if his best friend, Tails would know anything about this stuff. He was always talking about things that Sonic would never understand, and sometimes, the blue blur would zone out and respond with only meaningless nods of his head, pretending to understand and take it all in. To Sonic, it was like a foreign language.

Sonic's eyes darted off to every possible direction, scanning the room. He saw a worryingly distorted version of a generator in the centre of the room and an examination table connected to it. Many monitor screens; thousands of buttons and levers were on a control panel that took up one wall, while the other two on either side of it were covered in pistons, gears and many coloured cables.

As Sonic looked towards the generator, he could make out a small ray of light escaping from the machine, from the top in a glass dome. The blue hedgehog then sensed different Chaos energies from his own in the room. It appeared as though the Doctor had already found two Chaos Emeralds.

"What's that?!" Sonic asked. Although it was more of a rhetorical question because he didn't want to find out, as it became painfully clear what the room was, thanks to the examination table in front of his eyes.

"A place that you'll get used to seeing, hedgehog… and perhaps your final resting place if you don't survive." Eggman then chuckled sadistically and snapped his fingers. "Robots! Escort this insolent little hedgehog to the Chaos Converter!" Eggman then laughed evilly as his plans were finally coming together.

XXX

Sonic the Hedgehog was no stranger to pain. He had been cut, bruised, mutilated, fell and landed from heights impossible for humans to survive, multiple times. After years of training, he had developed the skills to ignore wounds that would render others unconscious. The times that he screamed because of extreme pain were rare.

But this was one of those occasions.

Sonic fought against his restraints as another bolt of Chaos energy ran through his twitching body. His wrists and ankles were strapped down, but he was able to move most of his blue-furred body. He twisted violently as another pained cry was forced out of his mouth, emitting a horrible echo around the room. His shackles were tight and dug into his skin, as a result of his violent spasms. Shallow breaths then followed and yet another cry was brought out as his body twitched once again, this time even more violently. Tears of pain had started to form in the blue hedgehog's eyes, but he had refused to shed them. He could feel the energies generated by the two Chaos emeralds travelling through his body, then being forced apart, along with the unbearable and excruciating pain that followed from the separation.

There was a small, brief pause that enabled Sonic to catch his breath between each transfer, although, he doubted that Eggman had programmed it for his own comfort. It was probably done so it wouldn't overload the machine. It had acquired an almost stable rhythm, for the blue blur could anticipate and predict when the pain would come and when he would be given a three seconds' reprieve as the machine charged up again to deliver another Chaos energy bolt.

Zap… Pain, pain, pain… Pause… One, Two, Three… Zap… Pain, pain, pain…Pause…

Sonic had wondered how long this experiment had been going on; it felt like hours. Pain again… His body hurt. Pain, when will it stop? Pain… his mind went blank.

When the rhythmic pause came, Sonic's limbs trembled, waiting for the next wave of agony, which came shortly after. This time, the cry was drowned in his mouth, letting only a small yelp remain. Out of his plain stubbornness, the blue hedgehog had decided not to give Eggman the pleasure of seeing and hearing his suffering.

So, he forced his mouth to clamp shut and stared at the plain, white ceiling with extreme determination. Another wave of pain came, but he refused to close his emerald-green eyes shut, due to the agony that he was feeling and instead, bit his tongue. Again only a small yelp was emitted from his lips. The blue blur managed to control his violent trashing; only yanking the restraints on his wrists out of reflex. As a result, they dug deeper into his skin, sending a flood of pain signals into his adult brain. Sonic took another shallow breath and closed his eyes for a brief moment.

"Not so cocky now, are you, hedgehog?" Eggman said with a look of amusement, clear on his face.

The doctor was currently standing on the other side of the room, where the main controls and monitors for the data obtained from the torturous machine were. As soon as Sonic was strapped down onto the cold, metallic table, a thick layer of reinforced glass descended from the ceiling to isolate the hedgehog, in case something went wrong. The two swat-bots were also standing guard nearby in case the rodent somehow escaped. Eggman strode close to the capsule that Sonic was encased in, observing him from the safety of the glass. The scientist was unsure if the blue hedgehog could hear him, but so far, his gaze was firmly fixed on the ceiling. Eggman creased his eyebrows and then glanced back at the huge screen above the control panel. On it were numbers, percentages and diagrams that displayed high percentages of over 50% Chaos energy being converted from the Chaos emeralds, to Sonic and then to the generator itself. The doctor smiled and stroked his peculiar moustache. He turned around and faced the hedgehog again, who was trying his best not to scream. So far, the conversion was going along smoothly and the blue blur's body proved to be more efficient as a filter than the doctor had calculated it to be; over 70% now of the chaos energy was usable; a very good amount, compared to the 10% that was achieved through his machines only. Eggman couldn't help from being fascinated by the hedgehog. He wanted to find out if it was possible to achieve an even better percent, perhaps by adjusting a few things to both the machines and his captive. Still, he believed that today's results were quite satisfactory. But, if the results got worse, then the doctor believed that he had exhausted Sonic's ability and drained him dry of his Chaos energy, he would then have no further use for the hedgehog and instead destroy him and tear out a piece of his soul that contained an abundance of Chaos and Life energy.

With a snap of his fingers, the machine powered down. Sonic's body relaxed almost immediately, secretly thanking every Supreme Being that he had ever heard of. With a hissing sound, the glass barrier finally rose up towards the ceiling. The scientist continued to approach the blue blur, while the robots reactivated to their master's movements and immediately hovered to his side to escort him towards his captive. Eggman however dismissed them with a wave of his hand and they obediently returned to their positions. Instead, the doctor kept observing the scene and then looked down at the half-dead hedgehog. It was obvious that Sonic was in a bad condition, but that didn't bother the doctor very much. Instead, ignoring the blue blur's faint protests whenever he touched the injured skin, Eggman put both hands down and proceeded to remove the restraints on his prisoner. Sonic's breathing was heavy, uneven and ragged; his body was tense, expecting the next wave of pain that was supposed to come, but never came. His emerald-green eyes remained tightly shut, refusing to look at his captor and his head was turned, opposite of where his enemy was. Sonic flinched every time his enemy touched him and made an attempt to move away, which of course failed.

"Quit resisting, hedgehog; you're only making this harder on yourself." Eggman commented as he was removing the last of Sonic's restraints with a thoughtful face.

"Sh…Shut up, Eggman…" Sonic's voice was now trembling; not from fear, but from fatigue, from both the experiment and from the fever that he was not allowing Eggman to see. He coughed a bit and his body was also trembling from the excess Chaos energy he had contained in his body.

"Wrong choice of words, rodent…"

Sonic blinked. "Wait, what-"

A loud scream of pain suddenly followed and echoed throughout the hollow, metallic base, before dissolving into held-in cries and quiet sobs. The blue blur had been tazed again and, being as weak as he was, it hurt like hell.

"I…I h-hate you" Sonic whispered weakly.

"Sure you do." Eggman replied dismissively, not caring too much about personal feelings at the moment.

Sonic took a deep breath, in an attempt to compose himself and his trembling form. Since he was free of his restraints, he tried to get up, only for his hands to give in from the sudden exertion. He moaned as he fell back to the table.

Eggman remained silent through this; his expression unreadable. Then, he stepped away from the hedgehog. Sonic's ears perked up upon hearing the footsteps grow quieter and more distant with every step. The doctor was moving away from him, probably full of himself, as usual. Sonic used this time to eliminate the excess Chaos energy within his body. Using an instinct inherited from his feral ancestors, he slowly curled up into a ball. He took deep, slow breaths and soon, the trembling and shaking started to cease. His body was already automatically disposing of all the excess energy to the environment. The process was slow, or else the machines would start to malfunction and Sonic didn't intend to get tazed again as a punishment.

His brief intermission to recover from the recent experiment was interrupted when the table that he was resting on suddenly retracted without any warning. Sonic fell onto the floor with a surprised yelp; his string of thoughts was gone as he tried to stand up on his severely weakened legs. Looking up, he saw his captor smirking at him from a distance, obviously because at the moment, the hedgehog looked helpless.

"Are we done, yet?" Sonic hissed towards the doctor; his words were filled with malice, unbecoming of the blue blur's usual behaviour that Eggman knew and loathed. The scientist heard his words and snapped his fingers once more.

At that second, the two robots standing guard in the room swiftly picked Sonic up and seized his hands to restrain him. The robots moves were harsh and Sonic could barely stand independently. This wasn't how it was supposed to be; every time he absorbed Chaos Energies and let it run through, he felt refreshed, not drained of energy. He guessed that Eggman's machine may have been the cause. It was likely denying him from using the energies to cure his shaken and mutilated body. The robots forced him to move forward; his legs slowly and carefully treading the room in an attempt not to give under his own weight. After a few seconds, he was once again facing the doctor, who had now withdrawn to the only computer chair in the room; his command chair. His now scarred right-hand was stroking his distinct moustache while observing his captive and guinea-pig. Then, Eggman's metallic minions forced Sonic to his knees; the impact with the cold, hard surface seemed to be painful, but the doctor failed to notice, as he was absorbed in his own thoughts.

"An extraordinary machine, don't you agree, hedgehog?" he addressed Sonic, who in return, turned his spiked head away from him, refusing to acknowledge his presence. Eggman, unfazed from this action continued. "However, it causes a great deal of damage to the one whom it absorbs the Chaos Energy from. I'm astonished that you're still conscious. According to my calculations, you should have already fainted, but still, you kept going. You have surpassed every single expectation so far, rodent."

One of Sonic's ears flicked slightly; judging from the tone and way his enemy had said that last part, it appeared as if he was…proud of him. Sonic looked up, with a slightly puzzled expression on his face, for a second, before he looked away again.

Eggman sighed silently at this; he was trying to compliment on Sonic's capabilities. "There's no need to be difficult, that was supposed to be a compliment."

A muttered response came from the kneeling hedgehog. The doctor leaned in closer to listen, fearing no harm from the subdued blue blur.

"What was that again, Sonic?" Eggman asked his foe.

Sonic looked up with anger in his emerald green eyes. "I said that I couldn't care less. I couldn't care less if you showered me with your compliments, Eggman. As you might know, actions speak louder than words." At this statement, his eyes lit up with a ferocious flame. "So far, it's pretty much obvious that you don't care about anyone or anything, as long as you get what you want."

"That's where you're both right and wrong, hedgehog." Eggman replied in an un-intimidated tone.

Sonic's eyebrows rose sarcastically. "Oh? So, I bet you're torturing me, so that the world can be a happier place for everyone? I fail to see your logic-"

"That wasn't torture, Sonic; if I had intended to torture you, then you would already be on your knees and on Death's Door, begging me to end your life quickly, so that you wouldn't have to suffer anymore."

"Rriiigggghhhhtttttttt…" Sonic exclaimed with sarcasm.

At this interruption, Eggman stood up and approached the kneeling hedgehog. When he was close enough, he knelt down, still slightly towering over his prisoner. Then, with a short command, the robots brought Sonic to his full height. Both Sonic and Eggman were the same height now.

"Do not underestimate me, rodent." His dark glasses gleamed in the harsh light. "There are many ways to make someone break, even one with such strong willpower as your own. I've been kind enough to you, so far by only leaving you weakened and not cutting you open to bleed slowly to death on some operating table. That is why…" He then edged closer to Sonic. "…you should be a good, well-behaved and obedient pet, unless you want to end up as an empty husk."

With that, a bulky, gloved finger touched Sonic's chest, where his heart was, obviously bringing up the implanted microchip. The hedgehog squirmed away from the uncomfortable touch, but the robot's grip was strong and he could barely move. That didn't go unnoticed by the doctor, who smirked in amusement at the way his prisoner reacted.

"Perhaps some time alone will allow you to decide…" Eggman stated. Then he snapped his fingers.

With that, the scientist then ordered his two bots to drag Sonic back to his cell. The blue hedgehog was twitching uncontrollably from the electric shocks. He was weak and disoriented. He didn't even feel it when they placed the shackles back on his wrists and then left the cell.

After a few moments, when it was dark and quiet with no one around, Sonic began to quietly sob over the pain and agony he was now feeling. Were his friends still looking for him since he left? The last friend he saw was Tails. He sobbed for Chaos-knows how long. Eggman wanted his powers to fuel his machines and the experiment would continue in the morning and the day after that and the day after that. He then believed that he'd be stuck here forever, or at least until his body couldn't take it anymore and he'd die slowly and painfully.

"Urg…" Sonic groaned, feeling nauseous.

Suddenly, he felt his stomach starting to heave; he wasn't feeling too good.

"Ug…"

Sonic then felt the bile rising from the pit of his stomach and couldn't take it no more.

"Bwech!" Sonic gasped and regurgitated what was in his stomach, making him feel even weaker than before.

XXX

The experiment obviously continued. By day, it was a ritual of pain and torture and by night, a ritual of sobs and stomach heaves for Sonic. Every few days, Eggman added an extra Chaos Emerald to the generator, so what was painful for Sonic the first day with two emeralds, was excruciating agony and torture when yet another one was added and the pain increased tenfold. By day three, with three emeralds in the machine, he was passing out during the experiment as he felt torn in three and by day five, he was going down by the time the third shock hit him and tore through his body.

By the end of the week, since the experiment started, Sonic realized that the doctor had five Chaos Emeralds. Eggman wasn't feeding him at all and it was starting to take its toll on the blue hedgehog. He barely slept, only for a few minutes each time he managed to nod off from the uncomfortable situation. His ribs were now protruding through his flesh again from being starved and his muscles had greatly atrophied from under usage. On top of that, his fever was getting worse and Sonic wasn't getting the meds to help remedy his condition.

To Eggman, Sonic was a very tough hedgehog to break.

But it was only a matter of time…

XXX

**To be continued…**


	9. A Change in Plans

Chapter 9: A Change in Plans.

**Hi everyone! **

**Credit for an idea goes to LovesAnimations1998. **

**Certain lines belong to:**

**SonicGirl4Ever**

**PantedgieQueen13**

**FantomoDrako**

**Thanks guys! **

**XXX**

It was day seven of the experiment. The cell door creaked open and Eggman walked in slowly. Behind him, two of his hench-bots entered Sonic's cell and started to unchain the blue hedgehog hanging on the wall. Sonic now looked completely drained of all his energy; he hadn't had anything to eat or drink during the past week and his strength and speed would not get him out of this anymore. He was dying and he knew it. Even if he wasn't restrained, he knew that he wouldn't have the energy to flee. Sonic literally felt his once-strong spirit breaking; he was weak, starving and terrified of death. His will to live was slowly vanishing.

He had lost so much weight, that the doctor was able to count his ribs clearly from across any room. He looked almost exactly the same as when Eggman had found him in the tundra. The only difference was the two scars running from his left shoulder, to his heart.

The two swat-bots unchained the prisoner from the cold wall and threw him harshly onto the stone-cold floor. Sonic groaned quietly and then proceeded to rise off the ground. He first attempted to push himself off the ground with his hands; the sudden exertion made his scrawny arms tremble as they struggled to support his weight. Once he believed that his body wouldn't give out, he then continued to get up. The blue blur then proceed into an upright position by positioning his legs underneath his underweight frame. Then finally, he managed to push his upper body up and succeeded in standing once again. His body began to sway and wobble slightly after this, due to being so weak. He could barely stand and it looked as though he was fighting to stay upright.

Eggman was watching his captive on the opposite side of the room through all this; he was both amused and surprised to see the blue hedgehog still standing. Sonic just glared at him; watching him open the door of his prison and walk outside. Sonic just observed his enemy, and then walked in silence behind his captor and in between the robots down the hallway, towards the generator room.

One of Sonic's now worn and grey gloved hands reached up and went straight to its controller's head, for he attempted to steady his swirling world and regain his sharp, clear vision. The hedgehog's mind was racing inside. His time of hibernation was drawing near. It would be about three weeks from now on the night of the Winter Solstice Eclipse. Every year, Sonic would fall asleep on the night of the Red Moon. It was now, however, starting to look bleak and that he would never make it this time. He wondered how much more he could take.

Eggman was walking casually ahead, pondering how much longer it would take to break the legendary blue hedgehog. At this rate, it probably wouldn't be much longer before something gave out; it was either Sonic's mind or his life. He then thought if he should add other methods to break down his captive to a satisfactory level. But the doctor's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a sound coming from behind him.

*THUD!*

The scientist then whipped his head around and saw that Sonic had collapsed on his side, onto the floor behind him, barely conscious. The doctor was surprised at this and turned fully around to check the hedgehog himself. He knelt down beside him and reached out to bring Sonic closer, in order to examine him. Sonic moaned and shrank into himself as he was touched; whimpering and whining through his pale, thin lips. Sometimes, he writhed weakly and mumbled incoherently, but these fits passed, as he became used to the hands that touched him. A small, weak and pitiful whine escaped the blue blur's dry throat.

"What the heck is this?!" Eggman mused, in a tone that sounded vaguely worried.

But Sonic only whimpered again, turning his head to the side, away from the doctor and closing his eyes. "No…no more…please…" Sonic pleaded through his hoarse throat, with a raspy voice. He then suddenly went limp and fell unconscious.

The doctor then thoughtfully looked him over. The blue hedgehog wasn't in good shape at all. His enemy never thought he'd see the rodent look this bad. _'What happened to him, I wonder?'_ He then felt the hedgehog's forehead with an ungloved hand, only to quickly draw it away again, due to shock; Sonic's temperature was too high to be normal. It had to be a fever and a bad one at that. The scientist then reached for the hedgehog's arm. He wrapped his fingers around the azure rodent's fawn-coloured, thin wrist surprisingly gently and, pushing back the dull coloured glove, felt for a pulse. After a few seconds, a fast, but weak pulse registered under his fingers.

Without quite knowing why, he reached out for the passed out hedgehog once more. Being careful of Sonic's sharp, untamed and ruffled quills, the doctor gently picked him up. Sonic hung limply in his grasp, not stirring one bit.

Casting his eyes to the unmoving bundle of fur and quills, he suddenly realised that he didn't want Sonic to die like this. _'No…not like this. Never like this; not even he deserves that. What have I done?'_ Eggman thought, his heart filled with remorse and regret.

He then headed down the corridors and walked towards the experimental room. If Sonic was still awake, he probably would've died of a heart attack upon seeing this room again. But Eggman ignored the room and traversed past it and headed down a wing marked "Medical Center".

XXX

Meanwhile, two smaller robots had just returned with a large shipment of supplies after weeks of traveling across the seas. One was a small orb-shaped robot and the other was cube-shaped. Orbot and Cubot had finally returned to their master's base and were weary from their journey. They had intended to doze off once they'd fulfilled their errand for the doctor. They didn't really need to sleep, but they enjoyed the luxury of having spare time all the same when their creator wasn't looking or didn't need them.

But this was one time when the doctor had use for them.

The two bots were suddenly startled when the heard a rough voice barking at them over the intercom.

"ORBOT, CUBOT! MAKE YOURSELVES USEFUL FOR A CHANGE AND REPORT TO THE MEDICAL BAY THIS INSTANT!"

The voice cut off and the two robots were left with many questions. "The medical bay?!" Orbot asked. "You don't think he had an accident, do you?" He addressed his friend.

The black and yellow bot just stated back with an apprehensive look at his black and red counterpart. "We'd better git down there an' see 'fore WE will need medical attention!"

With that, Cubot scrambled down to the medical room with Orbot right behind him. Eggman barely acknowledged their arrival when they arrived in the facility; his back was facing then, obstructing their view on what he was working on.

"You called, sir?" Orbot asked warily.

Eggman didn't even turn around when talking to them. "Yes, I need you to get a few things for me – "

"Y'all want us to go shopping again?!" Cubot whined, interrupting the doctor.

Eggman remained facing away from them as he snapped out an answer. "No, you stupid bucket of bolts! I need you two to fetch a basin of cold, clean water and a small, clean towel. Think you two idiots can manage that simple task?"

Both quickly saluted and replied. "Yes, sir!" They then hurried off to complete their tasks, almost jamming each other in the doorway in their rush to leave.

The doctor had been standing hunched over the only bed in the room that he had deposited his burden on. Sonic was sweating up a storm and shivering from the fever's effects. Eggman walked away for a moment. He then returned with a thermometer in his hand that he found in a drawer near the bed. He then placed it carefully into the blue hedgehog's ear and waited for the results to be given. Eggman then removed the instrument and took a look at the readings. _'Oh my…! 110 Degrees?! This is very serious indeed!'_

After a few minutes, the two robots returned. The former was carrying a large basin of clear water, while the latter had a towel. Both hovered over to the doctor's sides, intending to hand him the items. This now gave them a clear view of what Eggman was attending to. Cubot almost dropped the bowl in surprise, barely managing not to spill its contents and risking a short circuit.

Orbot, however, was the first to speak. "Um, sir… why is Sonic here?"

While the doctor was removing the bowl from Cubot's grip, he answered. "I found him recently near here and intended to break him, but it looks as though I might have overdone it." He then placed the bowl near Sonic's feet.

Cubot took a brief glimpse of the blue hedgehog's sickly, frail body. "You really been and gone and done it!"

Eggman, however, just grabbed the towel, soaked it in the water, wrung it and then ran it over Sonic's fur and quills, in an attempt to cool the dangerously overheated hedgehog. The doctor then took a plastic cup filled with water from Orbot that he sent him for. He then held the blue blur's head up a small bit and held the cup to Sonic's dry lips, then tilted it carefully. A small trickle made its way down the azure hedgehog's parched throat. Sonic then started to swallow reflexively. The scientist watched him closely; he was relieved that Sonic had swallowed without choking on the water. He then pondered on. _'If this continues, I won't have to stick an I.V. into him, at least. I'd better get some medicine for him in order to reduce his temperature. The main thing to do is to make him as comfortable as possible and remedy his fever.'_

The doctor then left the room, intending to find the correct medication in another room. Orbot and Cubot were still in the recovery room with Sonic. They were left flabbergasted with a jaw-dropping look on their metallic faces by their master's recent actions.

"What do you think happened to him?" Orbot asked his friend, while he assessed the situation by scratching his round head. "I've never seen him like this. Is he sick, or something?"

"Y'all got me, partner. Maybe he hit his head. All I know is the boss man's losing it." Cubot responded while rotating a metallic finger near his head, signifying crazy behaviour.

Soon, Eggman returned with a syringe and a small container of medicine.

XXX

By the next day, Sonic's temperature had dropped from a serious to a less minor fever. Eggman kept giving him water and medicine. The blue hedgehog still wasn't out of the woods yet however.

Sonic had fitful dreams for the next few hours. He was tossing and turning in his sleep, moaning and talking loudly. It got so loud, that Eggman could actually hear it from a few rooms away. Feeling as if something was wrong, he headed for the blue hedgehog's recovery room and walked in to find Sonic screaming in his sleep. The doctor was then about to gently shake him awake, but then thought it was wrong and not the correct method for a sick hedgehog. He had to try calm him down without waking him, but how? The blue blur was still squirming under the blanket; only his head was exposed to the air and his ears were folded back all the way to his skull. That was when Eggman had an idea. He reached out and took one of Sonic's occasionally twitching ears and gently rubbed the silky appendage between his fingers. Much to the doctor's surprise, his patient's screams began to fade away into softer whimpers, and then nothing, but the almost silent sound of deep, heavy breathing.

Eggman sighed with a great deal of sympathy; it was his entire fault that Sonic was like this. Eggman then sat down on a chair beside the bed. "Poor Sonic," the doctor mused in a fatherly undertone. "You have no idea how much I owe to you, how much I… as much as I loathe to say it… adore you. It is good that you are unconscious. You could never understand how much I care for you." He then rose from his seat and struggled to stand. Then, the doctor paced around the room for the moment.

"But," Eggman continued on mournfully. "This feeling between us, of course, is not mutual or similar. You hate me for committing what you consider to be murder, and I never truly expected you to feel that way for me. Is it really true that I hate you for not submitting to my rule, to becoming my heir, or is it because you attacked me?" Eggman replied, while looking down at the two scars on his arm.

The scientist then walked back over to the chair; aligning his back with the soft cushion fabric. "You saved my life and _this_ is how I repay you; by humiliating, torturing and bringing you so close to death, so, that you might not ever return to this world. I've made so, many mistakes in the past, but this one has to be the worst." He then reached over for the corner of the blanket and drew it back; exposing Sonic's left shoulder, where his two scars were. "I wish that you were awake so that you could hear this: I'm so, so sorry for everything that I've done bad. I-I'm sorry for hurting you and I hope that you can forgive me."

Eggman then buried his face in his hands; then sunk into the quilt. He was completely miserable and ashamed of what he did. After a few seconds of moping, he felt something on his arm.

"Apology accepted, Eggman." A raspy and hoarse voice replied.

"Huh?" A startled Eggman looked up. He then noticed that Sonic's hand was on his arm. "And exactly how long have you been listening?" The doctor asked curiously.

"Meh…long enough."

"Why you little-! Are you trying to give me grey hairs?"

Sonic just opened one emerald-green eye and smiled cheekily. "Is that a trick question? You don't even _have_ hair, unless you're talking about your moustache."

"Grrr… heh, touché." Eggman muttered in defeat. "I'll be right back…" He then replied.

The doctor then left the room. Sonic just lay there flabbergasted. He had been awake all along, since his nightmares woke him up. He had heard the scientist's entire speech. The blue hedgehog then thought, _'He actually cares…who the heck is this guy and where's the REAL Eggman?'_ Sonic asked himself while scoffing mentally.

XXX

Eggman soon returned with something highly unexpected; a plate full of Sonic's favourite food: chilidogs. Sonic hadn't seen or tasted these in over three months, but that was before he was sent on a mission and ended up getting lost in the tundra.

"Here you are." Eggman replied cheerfully, while handing Sonic the plate. But Sonic just looked away, disapprovingly at the meal; he didn't trust the doctor completely with this and wondered vaguely how much poison he'd put in them.

The scientist then had an idea on how to cure this. He took one of the franks and ate it himself – all while Sonic was watching him, with a surprised look on his face. "See, nothing to worry about." Eggman reassured. He then got up and left the room, believing that Sonic would be uncomfortable eating around someone else.

Sonic was alone in the room, eying the hotdogs beside him on the bed. He hesitantly picked one up slowly and carefully, as if he expected it was a bomb. Despite all his hunger and intention to shove the entire thing into his mouth, the blue hedgehog still proceeded with extreme caution.

He started by sniffing it for any evidence of poison. When he detected no trace of any, Sonic then cautiously licked the frank and chili sauce dipped on it. He then took a small bite, chewed and then swallowed. He then waited for a moment to see if anything bad or unusual would occur. After a few moments, nothing bad had happened and he was feeling slightly better. That was when the hedgehog's stomach rumbled with a loud growl. He knew what he wanted and now he was going to get it. His brain suddenly went into overdrive and he had the entire chilidog in his mouth and swallowed before he had a chance to blink and realize what had happened.

Sonic then took a second one and bit into it rapidly, chewing with gusto. They were still warm, which was important, and oddly delicious. No wonder why some of Eggman's old hench-bots could lure him near their traps, back in the old days. As much as Sonic hated to admit it; Eggman had a great recipe for chilidogs.

Sonic was eating blindly in some kind of frenzy. It reminded him of the time that he had first absorbed a Nega-Wisp and became so hungry, that he ate everything in sight, including metal robots and crates. Sonic was just relieved afterwards, since he didn't have any metal or screws in his stomach when Tails X-Rayed him.

XXX

"There, that wasn't so bad, now was it?" Eggman said when he returned later to check on Sonic.

Sonic just shook his head. Obviously, he had enjoyed his first decent meal in months, due to the empty plate.

"Feel better?" Eggman asked with a worried look on his face that Sonic had never seen him do before. Eggman had already checked the waste bin just in case Sonic was lying about eating.

"Hell, yeah! I had no idea that you had a great recipe, Eggman!" Sonic answered with vigour in his voice. "You might, however, just want to go easy on the calcium powder."

"Excuse me?" Eggman froze and started to sweat, nervous at being detected. True, he _had _put a small dosage on the chilidogs, but had hoped that: One, Sonic wouldn't know. Two, Sonic would see it as salt or a ground-up herb or onion. Three, Sonic wouldn't be able to smell or taste it, due to a hopefully stuffed up nose, from the fever. He started to tug at the collar from his all-too-familiar red jacket, fearing the worst reaction from Sonic.

The blue hedgehog just explained, "It's a different texture from salt, and it had a fruity, cinnamon taste. You should hide it better next time." Sonic replied calmly.

Eggman heaved a sigh of relief. Glad that Sonic hadn't taken it the wrong way, by tackling him and fearing poison in his system. "Well, at least you liked it." The doctor remarked.

Sonic nodded. "Sure I liked it!" He exclaimed with his raspy voice. "Got any more?" He then asked sheepishly.

"I'll send Orbot and Cubot up soon with another batch. But I want you to stay in bed. You've still got a slight fever and it'll hopefully be gone in a few days.

"OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH…" Sonic groaned at this with his arms folded and a sulky expression on his face. Yet another few days without running and he was growing tired of it. He was about to protest. "But…"

"Ah – ah - ah…." Eggman wagged a finger in front of him, seemingly playfully, since he had the upper hand and was enjoying every single moment of it. "No 'buts', Sonic. Now, march your butt into that bed, or else." He replied while starting to leave. While closing the door, he was surprised at how radically different Sonic was acting, now that he had a full belly.

As soon as the door closed, Sonic kept muttering as he stomped angrily towards the bed. "Lousy, stupid, rotten Egghead… grr…father figure, my butt…" A really ticked-off Sonic continued muttering for about half an hour, until he calmed down.

XXX

It was getting late as Sonic finished the next batch of chilidogs without a problem. He felt as though if he ate any more, he'd explode. He then yawned in contentment, over having a full stomach and feeling warm, compared to outside where a snowstorm was hitting the window that he was looking out from. He then settled down on the bed and inhaled deeply. Sonic's eyelids started to flutter shut slowly. He had never felt this safe in a long time.

**XXX**

**To be continued…**


	10. Achoo

Chapter 10: Achoo!

**Hey guys! Thanks so much for all the views and reviews! XD**

**Credits for certain lines belong to RAWN89, SonicGirl4Ever and Chiisai Kitsune. Thanks and enjoy!**

Sonic the Hedgehog was still asleep in bed; his mouth was agape over his nose being blocked from the fever and found it impossible to breathe through, for now.

Morning had arrived and for once, the sun was shining through the recovery room window and onto the blue hedgehog's face. Sonic stirred and groaned, then, opened one sleepy eye to see the bright sunlight reaching through the glass. Sonic was not a morning person when sick. He just wanted to sleep his sick days away in total darkness and shut out from the world. He moaned from feeling sick from the fever and rolled completely around, facing away from the window. "Hnggggh…"

"Morning." Eggman said with his head propped up by his arm and a smug look on his face. He was sitting on the chair beside the bed.

Sonic emerald eyes suddenly widened. "Gah!?" Was all Sonic could say through his fright, as he jumped from surprise and fell off the bed. "Ooff" He then slowly rose, joints creaking from stiffness, by grabbing the bed to support him. "Owwww!" He then looked at the doctor. "Sheesh, Eggman! Is that how you treat your patients to a wake-up call? Classic, very classic." He said through a nasally voice.

"What's the matter, Sonic? A doctor can't check up on his patients to make sure they're not dead?" The scientist replied.

"Well, aside from giving me a heart attack, what do you want?" Sonic asked curiously.

"I just wanted to see how you are. I was also hoping to examine you, in order to make sure that your fever is nothing more…lethal." Eggman replied while smirking at the last word. This made shivers go down Sonic's spiky back.

"Oh, alright." Sonic consented. "Let's just get this over with."

XXX

"Er… Eggman…" Sonic said nervously as they were walking down the hallway towards the "Clinic".

"Oh, for the love of -!" The scientist growled in irritation, while face palming. He then looked at the hedgehog. "For the hundredth time, Sonic…NO! It won't involve injections! How many times will I have to repeat my answer until it goes through your thick, blue, spiky head?!"

"Sheesh, no need to blow your top! Just wondering…"

"Well here we are, the clinic." Eggman responded after a few moments of silence through the long hallway. He then opened the door.

"And not a moment too soon…" Sonic replied and then dashed in for the nearest box of handkerchiefs he could find. At the way his cold was still progressing, his nose ran faster than he could run.

"Alright. First off, if you don't mind, I need you to sit on the bed. I'll be back in a second." He then departed from the room.

Sonic was still sceptical over the doctor's strange change in emotions over the past few days. But, nonetheless, still obeyed. He sat down on the flat bed with the headboard slightly higher on one side and looked around the room. It looked like any normal check-up room. It still made Sonic nervous, since he had to go to a lot of check-ups when he was a pup.

Eggman soon returned with a white doctor's coat on instead of the usual crimson. "Playing 'doctor games' are we, Doc?" Sonic asked with a cocked head and a smirk on his face.

If Sonic could see the doctor's eyes, they'd probably be rolling in annoyance over that question. "You can call it that if you want to." Eggman replied as he searched a drawer for some utensils. Sonic watched carefully at what Eggman was fishing out of the drawer.

Soon, the doctor left a bunch of utensils lying in a row on the desk. The line included a stethoscope, otoscope, a blood pressure cuff, painkillers, petroleum jelly, swabs, balls of cotton wool, and thermometers. _'Hmm…No needles so far…that's a relief.'_ Sonic thought as he was looking over Eggman's shoulder from the elevated bed.

"Let's get started." The doctor said as he came towards the blue hedgehog with a few thermometers in his hand. Sonic however gave him a weak snarl as he approached him with the foreign objects. "OK, Sonic…we can do this the easy way…or the hard way." Eggman suddenly smirked at that last part for some odd reason. "If I were you, I'd take the easy way; it'd be far less painful for you."

The doctor then took the thermometer and tried to place it in the blue hedgehog's ear, but Sonic swivelled his ears back to his skull, so the ears were out of the question. "Ok…let's try this." The scientist replied in an unusually calm manner. He then grabbed another thermometer. "Come on, Sonic. Open your mouth, please." Eggman asked kindly. But the blue hedgehog only kept his fawn-coloured muzzle shut, nervous about the whole situation. He then turned around and lay on his stomach on the bed.

The doctor then sighed and sounded a little bit annoyed. "Fine, Sonic…have it your way." Sonic then heard Eggman move to the other side of the room. The blue hedgehog just gave a sigh of relief, knowing that the examination was over.

Suddenly, two metallic cuffs came out from the bed and pinned Sonic's wrists down, before he could even blink. His arms were held down on either side of the pillow, as he desperately tried to yank them free.

Then all of a sudden, he felt a strong grip on his tail and then it was forcibly yanked upwards, forcing Sonic to stand on his legs. He looked like a dog or cat in a stretching position.

"I tried to warn you, Sonic." The hedgehog looked behind him to see that Eggman had grabbed onto his tail. "Looks like we're going for the hard way after all." He replied while holding up another thermometer.

Sonic's eyes widened in fear and his muzzle turned white as snow; he saw a thermometer that he hadn't seen since pup-hood. It brought uncomfortable memories back to the blue hedgehog. Compared to the other thermometers, this thermometer was going into the opposite end; where Sonic couldn't protect himself, since his tail was pulled upright and couldn't fold back.

"EGGMAN! This is highly NOT dignified!" Sonic shouted in a mixture of anger and embarrassment in his humiliating position. His ears were folded back and lay flat on his skull, as if they blended in. And just like his muzzle, both were glowing a deep red colour as the blood rushed into them.

"I gave you a choice, Sonic, and you refused to cooperate with me." Eggman replied with a stern voice. He then pinched Sonic's tail, preparing to insert the thermometer where the sun doesn't shine.

Sonic then looked back at the doctor with an unusual dark and very intimidating look. "If you shove that stick up my butt, then I'll thrust my quills up your own and make your life hell!" Sonic growled.

"A hollow threat, Sonic; those cuffs are reinforced and even you can't break through them. Brace yourself…this might hurt." The doctor then replied with an overconfident sneer. He then pinched and pulled on the blue blur's appendage.

"Gah!" The blue blur shouted out in a small amount of pain and surprise. He then suddenly felt something cold and thin sliding under his tongue; a regular thermometer. Sonic almost choked in reflex over feeling the strange object in his mouth. Sonic just scowled at the doctor and gave him a small glare. Realizing the blue hedgehog's source of annoyance, he gently lowered the blue blur's rump, by releasing his tail. After what felt like forever for the blue hedgehog, Eggman finally removed the annoying device. He then un-cuffed his wrists and Sonic sat up, while glaring at the doctor. His hands were attending to his abused and sore appendage. _'I won't be able to sit for a week.'_ Sonic thought to himself while wincing in slight pain.

"I take it that you've learned your lesson, Sonic…Don't mess with me, or else the consequences will be severe."

Sonic didn't say anything after that. He just wanted the examination to be over quickly. The doctor then picked up a stethoscope. "Hold still and take deep breaths." This was the last thing that an irritated Sonic had on his mind, but he still obeyed since he had learned his lesson the hard way. The doctor then used the otoscope to check Sonic's ears and found some wax build-up inside. He then took a small ball of cotton wool and began cleaning out the hedgehog's ears. It didn't surprise him, when the white cotton had turned yellow when it was removed; Sonic's ears were filthy. Eggman then used the blood pressure monitor on the blue hedgehog's fawn coloured arm; His pulse was still a little too fast and high for a normal, healthy hedgehog.

Sonic still didn't look very healthy; his ragged fur, like all Mobian species, was an indicator that he was still a bit under the weather and not fully over the fever. Eggman then walked over to the desk and brought back a painkiller pill.

"Eat this." Eggman commanded in a calm tone. "It'll make you better." He then reassured. The scientist then turned his back to Sonic and started to write notes on a clipboard.

Sonic just stared with malice at the pill and cup of water beside it; he had no way out of this and didn't want a humiliating repeat of what happened with the thermometer incident and he certainly wouldn't want that painkiller to be administered by a syringe. The thought of that made Sonic shiver.

He just took the pill, swallowed it and then gulped down the water straight after. He knew that Eggman was helping him, but at least this time, he managed to maintain his pride, as long as he listened and didn't try to make it harder.

"Well, Sonic. That's everything done. Now, get back to bed." The doctor commanded sternly. Sonic just sighed in annoyance and went back to his room.

XXX

The sick, blue hedgehog returned to his recovery room a few doors down. There wasn't anything in this room, except a bed, window and a small cupboard. Sonic was bored; there was nothing to do in his dorm. If he was at his own house, he would at least have, books to read, had a T.V to watch and friends to call. In here he had nothing to amuse himself and not even enough space to run. Sonic then vowed that once he was better, he'd run till he could take no more and that wasn't a bad idea for a cooped-up hedgehog.

Orbot and Cubot came by later with a bowl of chicken soup. Clearly this was to cure Sonic's fever faster. The blue hedgehog still enjoyed it however and drank it within a minute. He then curled up under the blanket and went to sleep.

XXX

It was day two of Sonic's fever and when he woke up, he felt terrible. Even though, the room had no mirror, Sonic was sure that he looked terrible also. He had already seen that his fur and quills were ruffled and out of place and his eyes felt blood shot. The blue hedgehog decided that he didn't want to be seen like this and curled up even tighter under the blanket. His ears perked up when he heard the door open and footsteps approaching the bed.

"Rise and shine, Sonic!" A familiar, awfully sarcastic and cheery voice said.

Sonic moaned. If he was back home and this was Tails, his response would have likely been "Just five more minutes, lil' bro."

Someone suddenly removed his blanket and he started to shiver. He just wanted to be left alone and somehow retrieve his warm quilt without moving. Sonic curled up into a ball to retain some warm body heat before it escaped.

"Not feeling so well, I take it?" Eggman asked his patient, with his hands behind his back and a smug look on his face, while looking down at the spiked, blue ball. Another moan was the hedgehog's answer; he was clearly in no mood for another check-up by the doctor.

The doctor guessed that Sonic wasn't going to take kindly to a repeat of yesterday's check-up. He decided to leave the poor sick hedgehog alone once he checked his temperature again, to see if his fever decreased overnight. He knew that sick people needed their space and miserable, sick, spiky, blue hedgehogs needed A LOT of it, especially one that was a little bad tempered at times.

"Sonic? I'm just going to check your temperature today. Can you please uncurl yourself?" The doctor asked kindly.

The blue blur did mind, however, but he didn't want a repeat of yesterday's embarrassing check-up. He uncurled himself, sat up and allowed the scientist to place the annoying instrument into his mouth.

After Eggman was finished examining Sonic, he removed the thermometer and found the hedgehog's temperature to be lower than the day before, but still high enough to be ill. Eggman left the room, while taking notes on how to make the blue blur better.

The blue hedgehog only responded to this by snuggling under the blanket again, grateful that the doctor hadn't bothered him for too long.

"Ah…ahh…ACHOO!" Sonic sneezed. He then grabbed a handkerchief from the bed-stand beside him and blew his nose. He then started to cough and wheeze. This was the usual routine for the past few days and the hedgehog resented being committed to bed-rest. His legs longed to run, but were still denied.

After fifteen minutes, a knock came from the door and then it opened. Eggman had returned. He was holding a small plastic cup, being careful not to spill the contents, which was a very suspicious red-pink coloured liquid and was fizzing.

The blue blur, just stared at the cup. _'No…not that…anything but that…'_ He hated medicine and when sick, he was easily agitated and ill-tempered. In short, he was a doctor's worst nightmare.

"Hey, Sonic, try this." He said encouragingly as he handed the hedgehog the cup.

Sonic however eyed the fizzy liquid with suspicion. _'What if it's poisoned or some kind of hallucinating drug…'_ His mind was telling him. Sonic, himself however, had another idea. "What is this, Eggman?" Sonic asked. He wanted to know what it was first before his mind got the better of him.

"It's only medicine; an interesting concoction I've made for killing fevers faster than before. It contains vitamins, minerals and gives a boost of energy to the immune system." Eggman explained.

The hedgehog then took the cup in one hand, raised it up towards the doctor in a polite gesture, moved it towards his lips and downed half of it. Sonic's reaction to the medicine was almost immediate; upon swallowing the bitter, foul tasting medicine, he started to shiver and shudder. He almost gagged on it when it was running down his throat; this wasn't what he expected. "Ugghh! That's nasty! It's a little bitter, too. And you could've done something about the colour." Sonic complained.

"Just keep drinking it." Eggman commanded, once again with that authority tone, and one that sounded slightly parental also.

Sonic whined, clearly not enjoying this and then sighed in defeat. He swallowed the remaining medicine in one gulp, relieved that it was over. "Yeuch! Bleech!" The sick hedgehog responded to the bitter taste. The taste didn't leave for a few minutes and Sonic resolved to sucking the bed sheets to get rid of the horrid, unpleasant taste.

"Stop acting like a baby, or do I have to force you to take more." Eggman replied with a cunning smirk.

"NO!" Sonic barked out immediately. "Uh…I mean…no thanks." Was the quick, polite and quieter reply that shortly followed.

"Oh, well…" Eggman replied with a false frown of disappointment. "If you want to come out from within the confines of the recovery room for a while, be my guest. I'll be in the lounge if you need me." Eggman mentioned before departing, leaving the door opened and unlocked.

Sonic just stood there for a few moments, surprised and confused. He suspected a trap and slowly walked out and looked around, taking everything in. He found no trap and decided to walk around the corridors, taking everything in. There was plenty of security to feel safe and lots of space inside the fortress; it was very easy to get lost. He walked through a large corridor with a massive window running down the entire length of it. It exhibited the large snowy mountains of the outside world.

After a few minutes of exploring, Sonic was starting to get tired again, possibly from staying awake longer than usual, over his fever and perhaps from the medicine starting to work. He had already forgotten which way his room was and was as good as lost. All he wanted to do was to return to his bed and sleep his sick days away.

He soon stumbled into a massive room. The main features were a large T.V. mounted on the wall above a fireplace and a large jade-coloured sofa facing it. Sonic noticed that the T.V was on and someone was chortling along to the comical jokes. The blue hedgehog's triangular ears suddenly pricked up-right in slight alertness; he recognised that laugh – Eggman.

The azure coloured hedgehog walked up to the opposite side of the couch and sat down for a while. "Ah, Sonic, come to join me for a while?" The doctor asked as he noticed Sonic sitting down.

"I guess you could say that…" Came the reply. "I'll find my room later." Sonic muttered to himself, too tired to care anymore on where he slept. He also didn't mind because he was starting to feel safe here, compared to a few weeks ago when he was dying in a dungeon. The blue hedgehog was also starting to trust the doctor; if it was a few months ago, Sonic would have never allowed Eggman to come within several meters of him without attacking in defence.

He then placed his elbow on the arm rest and used his hand to keep his head propped up, although soon enough, he found himself lying down, curled up on his side of the couch. His breathing started to slow as he was drifting off.

That was when he felt something familiar on his exposed side and was reminded of what happened the last time this had occurred. "Mmph…stop that…" Sonic muttered in a sleepily, half-hearted complaint at the doctor's hand stroking him. Eggman however smirks and doesn't stop, clearly enjoying every rare moment of this.

The blue hedgehog would have refused on the grounds of being recognised as a pet, which he clearly wasn't. But right now, he couldn't fight it; too tired to make the scientist cease.

Sonic then turned his face away. _'Still… it feels great…'_ Sonic thought with embarrassment.

"Glad you're enjoying it." Eggman replied.

Sonic's emerald eyes shot open; had Eggman just heard what he was thinking?

He decided to try again to confirm his suspicions. _'Hey, Eggman...'_

"What is it, now?" The doctor asked.

Sonic however froze for a moment. He didn't want to ask if this was real yet, in case he was still dreaming or crazy. He decided to say something else. "I just wanted to say…thanks for everything, but why the sudden change? He then asked.

"To be honest, it was wrong of me to mistreat you like that. It was very wrong of me; you almost died from my mistakes and I don't want to do it again." Eggman answered.

_'I also wanted to just have you as a friend, for company.'_ The doctor then thought to himself.

"I think that I can accept that." Sonic responded.

Eggman just stared blankly; Sonic just read his thoughts and answered them. He then decided to forget about it. "Let's not worry about this, for now; I'm sure we'll figure out what's going on." Eggman replied and then resumed stroking Sonic's side, as if attempting to calm himself over this and also the nervous hedgehog beside him. They then turned their attention back to the T.V.

After a few minutes, it was clear that he didn't need to read Sonic's mind to understand that the blue hedgehog was enjoying this; he looked more relaxed than before and was emitting small purrs of happiness, while only half-conscious.

Once the show had ended, Eggman only realised then that the purring sounds had stopped beside him. He then looked over towards the one who had been making it previously and saw that the blue blur had completely fallen asleep. The doctor smiled compassionately as he carefully picked Sonic up, being careful of the sharp quills. Sonic, however, didn't even budge, for he was really tired and fully knocked out.

The doctor then took him to a different room than the one that the hedgehog had been in previously. Reassured that Sonic's fever was almost gone, the recovery room would definitely not suit as a room to live in daily. Once Eggman reached the new room, he placed Sonic down carefully on the bed and left him alone.

XXX

Eggman's POV:

'_Had Sonic really just read my mind?! Had he just fallen asleep beside me, exposing himself in that manner? Did he now trust me completely?'_

These were just a few of the questions that were now racing through my head and all the answers eluded me. I'd placed Sonic in a guest room and was now heading towards a facility that could probably tell me the answers:

The laboratory.

Once I'd entered the lab, I decided to take a sample of my blood and test it with Sonic's.

Something was wrong with me, and it all started when Sonic bit me.

My emotions did a 180 turn after that and I even secretly started eating chilidogs, which I never liked before. I even had to laugh at it and joked that I was turning into Sonic.

I then analysed the samples results.

As I read the monitor that displayed the data, I reached up with my hand for my glasses and removed them shakily, in order to double check to see that I wasn't wrong.

"That's impossible!" I said to myself.

Sonic's blood was a complete match to my own.

Like the hedgehog, I was also infected with the serum that I'd used to save him.

Only time would tell if the side-effects would become harmful.

**XXX**

**To be continued…**


	11. The Night Binge

Chapter 11: The Night Binge

Sonic awoke a few hours later in the evening to find himself in a completely different place from where he fell asleep. He clearly wasn't back in the recovery room anymore. The first thing he saw was the sky-blue coloured walls surrounding him and then the massive space that the room had to offer. As he looked around, he couldn't believe his luck; he had to pinch himself to reassure himself that this was no dream. The room had a large shelf of books and comics; there was a large flat-screen T.V. mounted on the wall at the end of his bed, with a Disc player underneath it. It had a music player with wireless headphones and CDs galore to use. There were also comfy chairs to relax in and even a desk to read on. He could now pass the hours in style and delectation.

He then looked out the massive window that took up one entire wall. The sun was setting below the horizon; he could practically see everything from where he was and also noticed that the room was many stories above the ground, which was beneath him. And from what Sonic saw on the computer map hanging on a wall, he was in one of the towers in a corner of the base. This was one of the highest places in the fortress.

'_Now, this is what I call service!'_ Sonic thought to himself.

XXX

The next day, the blue hedgehog departed from his room and took a look around. It didn't take him too long to find Eggman.

"Mooorning, Egghead!" Came a loud, cheeky and cheerful voice from behind the doctor, startling him into turning around from something so loud, so early in the morning.

As soon as the scientist saw Sonic, he was surprised at the hedgehog's clean and healthy appearance; all signs of a fever gone and also looking slightly plump in form. You could've mistaken him for Classic Sonic, but the green eyes and height were the only flaws.

"Well, well! You're looking much better. I guess the medicine worked."

"At least one of your inventions finally works…" Sonic teased as he walked away.

Suddenly he heard a sneeze behind him. It seemed as though Eggman had caught the cold.

'_Best day of my life!'_ Sonic thought with a cocky smirk and his hands draped behind his head, while walking away.

"I heard that!"

'_He, he…Oops!'_ The hedgehog chuckled to himself.

XXX

Sonic soon learned that he could prevent some of his thoughts from being heard by not focusing on or thinking of the one person who could hear them.

XXX

After one final health inspection, Eggman took down some more notes on some paper. Sonic looked around the room and his gaze fell on something long and shiny in the doctor's coat pocket. _'Crap! A needle!'_ Was Sonic's first thought, but upon further inspection, he found out that it was a pen. Sonic reached out and grabbed it, out of curiosity. _'Yoink!'_ It had a small red button on the top and it had Eggman's name written on the side. _'This is no ordinary pen'_ Sonic pondered while observing it and then it became clear what it really was. _'…It's an I.D access pen! I remember Tails having one of these! Now I can go places that I was forbidden to go! Good luck trying to keep me locked in my room now, Egghead!'_ He then placed the pen in his sock, just before Eggman turned around.

"Well, that's it, Sonic. We're finished here."

"Great!" The blue hedgehog replied and zipped off.

XXX

Later on, Sonic was walking down the halls with Eggman. The hedgehog had continuously persuaded and pestered the doctor to show him around, so he would no longer get lost. They had already been to the kitchen, library, lounge, wreck room and gym. The blue blur wondered how often the gym was used.

To Sonic, it was a lot of fun listening to the scientist explaining the history of the base, to every little fact and detail of each room that they had visited. The blue-furred rodent had never heard Eggman sound so mellow before; it was like listening to a whole different person, but it was the same human.

"…And that concludes the tour, Sonic. Satisfied?" The doctor asked with a raised eyebrow, while looking over to the hedgehog.

"Great enough! That was useful information. Thank you! Hopefully, I don't have to worry about getting lost anymore." Sonic replied. "I think I'll head to the kitchen for a snack. I'll see you later."

Sonic then walked a few steps ahead of Eggman, intending to head to the kitchen. Before he was going to disappear around a corner, he looked back towards the doctor and smiled with happiness and content. Eggman saw his expression and was quite surprised with the placid look. The doctor then saw a strange and unusual change in Sonic's behaviour; one moment Sonic was standing, in a confident and courageous posture and the next, he was starting to sway, as if dizzy and sagged against the wall. He then collapsed towards the ground.

"SONIC!" The doctor shouted as he ran towards him and caught him right before he hit the floor. The blue hedgehog lay limp in the doctor's arms. Eggman then turned him around.

"Sonic, come on! Wake up! Speak to me!"

He then decided to check for a heartbeat;

Nothing.

Eggman then placed Sonic flat on his back on the floor. He had no choice but to revive him without any instruments or devices, since none were nearby. The doctor detested the fact that he had to do a mouth-to-mouth resuscitation; he could only scarcely imagine where Sonic's mouth had been and if he carried any diseases.

The scientist then bent down close to the hedgehog's fawn coloured muzzle.

"HUH?!" Was a sound uttered.

Eggman looked down to see a very ticked off hedgehog. With enormous, fiery glowing emerald green eyes. They both stared at each other for a second. Eggman had an astonished look on his face, while Sonic looked really peeved with a deep scowl on his face; his eye crest (ridge between the eyes) came all the way down to his muzzle, just like Shadow's always was.

"Sonic?! I thought you were dead!" The doctor spoke in a very relieved tone.

He was then silenced as Sonic slapped him across the face, with his hand.

"What the hell, Eggman?!" The blue blur shouted while growling.

"You collapsed and I thought you died." The doctor replied as he helped the hedgehog to stand up.

Sonic stopped growling and looked at the human with confusion in his eyes. He then took a calming breath as the doctor's words sank in.

"I'm sorry." Sonic said with a sad expression, ears and tail drooped. "You were just trying to help me. It was a misunderstanding."

"What happened?" The scientist asked him with curiosity.

"I know what's wrong with me. I'm close to my time of hibernation; it's only a day or two away and sometimes I pass out all of a sudden." Sonic stated.

"That explains why you eat so much now; I mean look at you. You're a bit heavier than usual. If you ask me, you're starting to relate to me." Eggman joked.

Sonic couldn't help but chuckle at this and pushed the doctor away playfully. "Says you!"

Eggman chuckled at this, then continued. "I think I should lock you in your room later, so that you don't wonder off and hurt yourself. Only temporarily of course until you stop."

"It wouldn't hurt, I suppose."

Sonic and Eggman then headed towards the kitchen.

XXX

Sonic awoke during the night. He took the pen from his drawer and walked up to the door. Sonic decided to press the button on the pen.

The door immediately slid open and Sonic drew a fist close to his side in victory and triumph. "Yes!" He whispered quietly and hoped Eggman didn't install sensors in the room. The blue hedgehog then walked down the hallway, looking for some form of entertainment. He just hoped that the doctor was in bed and no bots were patrolling the halls at this hour. He then noticed a few rotating security cameras hanging on the ceiling and rotating in a rhythmic manner, back and forth, while scanning the area. Sonic however just used his fleet movements to dodge out of range.

The blue hedgehog chuckled confidently while running down the hallway. _'You're too slow!'_

Soon he dodged all the cameras. _'Heh…No problem…piece of cake!' _Sonic cockily remarked to himself with a grin on his face. He then noticed a lounge room, entered it and then saw the kitchen after that. _'Ah-ha! Perfect! A midnight snack!'_

"GOTCHA!" A voice shouted.

A startled Sonic suddenly jumped behind a chair, fearing that he'd been seen and would be punished for it.

"NOW, YOU'RE GONNA GET IT!" Sonic felt his heart beating against his chest in fright.

He then looked carefully around the recliner, towards the source of the noise.

"AND THAT'S CHECKMATE, PARTNER!" Cubot replied as he won yet another chess game against his best friend.

"OH! I CAN'T BELIEVE I DIDN'T SEE THAT!" Orbot responded with surprise as he was scratching his head.

"THAT'S PATHETIC! EVEN I SAW THAT COMING FROM A MILE AWAY!" Metal Sonic replied while observing the game.

"DON'T WORRY… I'LL GET HIM THIS TIME!" Orbot said with monotone confidence.

"HEY! KEEP IT DOWN! WE'RE TRYING TO WATCH OUR SHOW!" A robotic chicken stood up from the sofa and shouted towards the three.

"YEAH! KEEP IT DOWN!" A smaller robot with drills as hands and a nose added.

"YEAH! YEAH! WE DON'T WANT THE BOSS WAKING TO CATCH US SLACKING OFF FROM OUR WORK!" A robotic monkey replied with a squeaky voice.

'_Well, well! When the doctor's away, the bots play! Looks like Eggman still uses old school bots to do his dirty work. I haven't seen Scratch, Grounder or Coconuts since Tails and I were pups.'_ Sonic thought as he watched all Eggman's creations messing in the room. Even Bocoe and Decoe were in the room playing videogames on the other side of the room.

Then Bokkun, a small black, flying robot entered the room from the two folding doors in the kitchen. He was carrying a large tray with cans on it. "HEY GUYS! ROUND TWO OF MOTOR OIL! GET IT WHILE IT'S HOT!"

All the robots suddenly gathered around the tray of drinks and Sonic saw this as an opportunity to sneak past them. In a burst of speed, he whipped around and zoomed into the kitchen, without being seen.

Sonic looked around the kitchen. The first thing he noticed was how the kitchen was coloured in black countertops and white tables; even the floor was designed in black and white tiles, quite similar to the chess game Orbot and Cubot were playing. The bored hedgehog walked over to the silver table and looked at his distorted reflection on its surface. Deciding to have a bit of fun, he made faces and struck poses at his reflection, until he grew tired of it and heard his stomach growl. That was when he remembered why he had snuck out of his room in the first place.

His gaze then fell on the large, shiny, coal-coloured refrigerator; like a moth to a flame, he was drawn to it immediately, just itching to see what was inside. "I wonder what Egghead's got to eat?" He asked aloud to himself. The blue blur then placed a gloved hand over the cool, metallic handle and opened up.

Dozens of food varieties greeted him. Massive cakes, pies, drinks of every flavour imaginable, and a massive turkey that was larger than his head-! The light from the fridge further illuminated the wide, bright grin on his face. "HA-HA! Jackpot!" Sonic chuckled. He couldn't believe that he was seeing this. Just to be sure he wasn't a dream; he opened the cabinets beside the fridge and found even more goodies inside. Sonic dashed back to the door to the lounge and peeked quietly through the ajar door. All the robots had resumed their lounging and hadn't noticed anything unusual. Finding himself alone and incognito, Sonic returned to the fridge and started to consume all the food that he could get his hands on.

XXX

An hour later, Sonic scooped up a plate of chilidogs in the fridge. He had decided to save the best for last and shoved them down his throat. He finished his gorging spree with a gulp of Sprite, right out of its two-litre bottle.

"HEY!" A voice shouted from behind the blue hedgehog.

Sonic's emerald eyes widened and he dropped the bottle onto the floor, over fear of being discovered; its contents spilled out into the rest of the rubbish lying on the floor. There were fish and turkey bones here, fruit remains there, along with empty bags of cookies and crisps. It was also covered with jellies, syrup and other sticky substances. He whipped his entire body around in a full 180° jump towards the door. He accidently let out a loud, rumbling belch, while attempting to say "YOU?!" As he recognised the robot confronting him.

"Hello, Scratch!" Sonic said in a sarcastic greeting while waving towards the metal bird.

"Who said you could eat all the food?!" The robotic chicken growled.

"Hey, I didn't eat everything! I can't drink the motor oil, since I'm no robot." Sonic replied.

"Dr. Robotnik is going to be mad! Wait till I get my hands on you!" Scratch growled angrily. He then hesitated, knowing that he wouldn't win against the legendary Blue Blur.

"What's the matter, Scratch? _Chicken_?!" Sonic taunted with a tilted head, raised eyebrow and a cocky smirk. He then proceeded to imitate a chicken, by folding his arms and flapping them as wings. "BUCK! BUCK! BUCK! BUCK-GARK!"

This enraged Scratch. He immediately charged towards Sonic, at full speed. Sonic, however saw this and quick-stepped at the last second. The metallic chicken missed and instead hit the fridge, head-on. This caused a loud crash, which alerted all the robots in the next room and they came charging in to the kitchen.

As soon as they saw Sonic, they decided to gang up on him. The hedgehog stood his ground and folded his arms, as they all circled around him in the middle of the room. He then kept turning his head, eying each one as it approached him.

Sonic chuckled nervously. "Heh, heh…You know, guys…Nine against one isn't exactly fair…

…FOR YOU!" Sonic then shouted out confidently.

In a burst of speed, he charged out the exit, knocking all the bots to the ground. "STRIKE!" Sonic called out happily as he glanced behind him to inspect the damage he caused. "Well, I'm going back to sleep! See ya, slow-mos!" He then stuck out his tongue, blew a raspberry and then departed, leaving the bots to clean up his mess.

The bots got up and groaned from the pain in their circuitry and the fact that the kitchen was unrecognisable from the rubbish heap and they'd have to clean it up before Eggman saw it. The robots waded through the gooey mess and peered in the fridge. Sure enough, there were a few cans of motor oil in there. They each grabbed one and intended to clean up the room right after it.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" A very recognisable voice thundered behind them. "Just look at my kitchen; it's a disaster area!"

All the bots coughed and spluttered, choking from their beverages. They slowly turned around, knowing exactly who they'd find.

Eggman then saw the vacant cupboards and empty fridge. "You ate EVERYTHING in the fridge?!" The doctor scolded them with a scowl; he looked really steamed. "Oh, you greedy gluttons are REALLY going to get it now!"

"But- but, we didn't do it! Coconuts cried.

"Yeah, it was Sonic!" Grounder added.

"WHAT?! What are you talking about?! He can't get out without my I.D pen, which I wave right here." He then fished out the I.D pen from his pocket and showed it to the bots. "And just to prove that you're wrong, I'll go and check on him right now."

XXX

Eggman headed towards Sonic's new bedroom. As he walked along the corridor towards it, the moon suddenly shone out from behind the black clouds and basked the hall in an eerie red glow. Eggman looked up at the full moon and saw it was now a crimson colour rather than white; late winter (December) was now here. He used the I.D pen to open the door, never realising that the hedgehog had returned it after his snack and before the doctor awoke from the commotion in the kitchen.

He slowly entered the dark bedroom, seeing many silhouettes, shadows and strange shapes on the walls. He then made his way over to the bed to check on Sonic. He saw a strange form on the bed, which looked like the hedgehog was sleeping in a curled up position.

He gently put his hand on where he believed the blue blur's shoulder was located under the heap.

Only for it to suddenly sink down to the mattress. Eggman then drew back the quilt in astonishment – to find the bed unoccupied and empty with a lack of hedgehog.

He then turned on the light, expecting Sonic to be hiding in the room, just waiting to scare him, but he was nowhere to be found in the room.

Sonic was gone.

**XXX**

**To be continued…**


	12. Searching for Answers

Chapter 12: Searching for Answers

**Hello everyone! This is a tribute to RAWN89's Pic "Sweet Dreams" on DA. Check it out.**

**XXX**

"Sonic! Hey, Sonic! Where are you?!"

Dr. Eggman and all his robots were searching for Sonic the Hedgehog in the large base. He had vanished without a trace and the doctor had sent his entire army of bots to scour the entire facility and the outer area just in case he had decided to escape. They were searching every nook and cranny, even though it would take forever.

Eggman would have used a tracking device to locate Sonic's whereabouts, thanks to the microchips he placed in the hedgehog, but recently, the scientist learned that the chips had fried during the electricity torture experiment that he had performed on the blue blur. Sonic's heart was beating independently again.

After a few hours, they were starting to lose hope on finding him, but the doctor pushed them on, telling them not to rest until they had located the hedgehog, unless they wanted to rest permanently. He then sat on a chair in Sonic's room to take a short break. Soon, some of Eggman's bots returned to report to their master.

"NO LUCK, SIR!" Orbot said.

"WE CAN'T FIND THAT LITTLE VARMINT!" Cubot added.

"Have you checked the rooftops?" The doctor asked.

"AFFIRMATIVE, MASTER." Metal Sonic replied as he returned with snow all over his metallic coating. "IT WAS SEARCHED SEVERAL TIMES AND ALL THE TREES IN THE VICINITY ARE CLEAR."

"ALL THE ROOMS ON THE GROUND AND UPPER FLOOR HAVE BEEN CHECKED AND THERE'S NO SIGN OF HIM." Bokkun replied. He was reporting for Bocue and Decoe also.

"THE GARAGES AND LABS ARE CLEAR!" Scratch and Grounder replied.

"Well, STOP STANDING AROUND AND FIND HIM!" Eggman bellowed.

"YES, SIR!" All the robots replied and scurried out of the room in several directions to continue their search.

Eggman then rose, fatigued and resumed his investigation into the blue blur's disappearance. He went down on his hands and knees to check under the bed and the laundry baskets with a flashlight. He even checked behind the boiler in the airing cupboard, where the warmth might have attracted a Mobian hedgehog. But there was no sign of him. The scientist felt shards of dread enter his stomach with every passing minute and every time he heard someone call out the blue blur's name, because no reply ever met it; just an echo and then silence. Then he thought of the notion of communicating through telepathy, which he and Sonic discovered recently was something that they had in common.

'_Sonic! Come on out, wherever you are!'_ The doctor thought.

No response came.

'_Sonic? Where the heck are you?! Do you want another thermometer up your rear?! You have ten seconds to come out! This isn't a game!'_ The doctor threatened in a furious way.

And still, there was no sign of the blue animal. He must have been asleep.

Eggman sighed and sat down heavily on the bed, trying to think things over. He remembered that Sonic had said something about hibernation drawing close.

Upon that thought, the doctor kept pondering. Sonic must be nesting. From research and other data sources, Eggman had learned that the hedgehog preferred to sleep in trees, rooftops and any other open and elevated space.

But when he was sick, he changed completely. Instead, he'd sleep in bed, under the covers or even under the bed itself. And since he was preparing for hibernation, he'd want to sleep in an even safer place, so as not to be disturbed.

'_Think, Ivo. Where would he mostly feel safe?'_

'_Well, he'd most likely go under something or even underground.' _

He put his head in his hands to think long and hard about it. When he removed his hands from his eyes, he noticed that the room looked different. It appeared to be darker and glowing a shade of blue in places. Out of the corner of his eyes, where the glasses didn't cover them, he then saw something moving in the room.

It was Sonic…

…And it wasn't Sonic.

Eggman could only stare in shock and wonder as he saw it walk around him, heading towards the door.

It looked like a ghost of the cerulean speedster. It was glowing blue and had huge green eyes. On top of that, Eggman could see its giant heart beating against its chest, which flashed every time it pulsated. There was something strange revolving around the heart; it looked like a comet with a long tail.

Eggman wondered if Sonic had died and was now being haunted by the spirit of his former nemesis. The doctor then stood up and saw it in front of the closed door, and then suddenly, it walked through the door, and disappeared. The human then took his flashlight from the press, turned the light on and headed outside the room in order to search for the mysterious phantom.

Soon enough, he found it and it seemed to be headed towards the kitchen. The scientist then witnessed the spectre duck and dodge all the security cameras through a hallway en route to the cook room.

After a few minutes Eggman began calculating what he had just seen; he had already witnessed the "Sonic Spirit" moving in the kitchen and what it appeared to be doing was feeding off the snacks that were previously there. It then suddenly twisted its transparent body around and after a few seconds, the apparition sped out the door and placed something in Eggman's crimson coat pocket.

The rotund human was now following the hedgehog ghost around the halls. It then stopped outside a boiler cupboard for a minute. It then apparently reached in and when it came out, it seemed to be holding something in its arms.

When the doctor opened the boiler room door, he noticed that a pile of neatly stacked blankets and pillows were now missing. He then followed the apparition around the base again.

He then saw it go down a flight of stairs to the basement and enter the generator room. This was where the scientist conserved power from his machines and used the excess energy for his robots and weapons. It was a super-powered machine, but Ivo wondered why Sonic would nest here; it was very noisy over all the turbines working at full power and the place smelled of oil and heated metal. In total, it was unattractive for a hedgehog.

But the spirit didn't stop here. Instead, it traversed past the platform that it and the doctor were standing on and headed for the next generator room. Eggman knew that this room was out of commission for years now because he had upgraded his machinery to a finer, harder and sturdier metal, which had been this generator's downfall since it was now weaker and was ancient, so it didn't function as well as the new one.

The machine hadn't been used in ages, so the essences of metal and oil were long gone. The scientist then saw the blue ghost walk up to one of the generator wheels, suspended a few feet off the ground, toss its covers and cushions into the circular gap in the centre and then jump into it. It didn't move after that.

Then, the sight returned to normal.

Eggman then quietly walked up to the wheel. The door was partially closed and it was pitch black inside. The human raised his flashlight and shone it on the door, then slowly and tentatively pulled the door open slightly; unsure of what lay behind it.

The doctor then saw the heap of materials inside the wheel; it was like a washing machine with a huge load of clothes in it.

'_Wait…Did the heap just move?'_ The scientist thought to himself. He then shone the flashlight onto the pile to get a better look.

Ivo then reached in and drew back one of the quilts; the image that he was met with surprised even himself.

A blue hedgehog was curled up tightly inside, snuggled in blankets and a few pillows to help soften the cold, metallic undulations of the machine and also to keep himself warm during the cold winter nights. The side of his chest rose very slowly and deeply. He was asleep and literally dead to the world.

Eggman, however had already put the pieces of the complicated puzzle together and realized that the ghost was only Sonic. What he had watched was a vision of what had happened a few hours ago; Sonic had escaped his room, ate in the kitchen, grabbed a few blankets from a cupboard and headed down here to hibernate.

"…SO, THIS IS WHERE HE WAS ALL ALONG!" A voice said behind the doctor.

The doctor whipped around to find Orbot behind him.

"Quiet! You metallic moron!" Eggman whispered, while doing the "Shut up" gesture.

"OOPS, SORRY, SIR…" The robot apologized in a quieter tone to its creator with a small bow. "BUT WHY IS THE HEDGEHOG IN A GENERATOR?" Orbot asked, while hovering and looking into the hole.

"I guess he likes the way that it acts as a burrow and it's also deep underground." Eggman replied. "But…" He then faced the hovering robot. "How long have you been following me?" The doctor inquired.

"ONLY A FEW MINUTES SIR. I SAW YOU WALKING DOWN THE CORRIDORS AND CALLED TO YOU, BUT YOU DIDN'T ANSWER, SO I FOLLOWED YOU INSTEAD."

"No matter." The doctor said. "Go back and tell the others that Sonic has been found, otherwise they'll be searching till their batteries run out." The large, rotund human commanded.

"YES, SIR!" The robot responded with another bow, before retreating down the hall and back up to the ground floor of the base.

Once he heard the door close, he returned his gaze to Sonic. The hedgehog's curled up appearance was adorable, and if Ivo had a camera, he would've recorded it. _'It's a pity that I didn't bring a camcorder down. Oh, well… there's always tomorrow.'_ Eggman thought to himself with a cunning smirk. Just seeing this was scarring his mind in a good kind of way and also sent a small pang of guilt through him, since Sonic had almost died by his own ambitions. _'Without him…the world will be an even more miserable place for everyone, including myself. I wonder if he'll still hang around here next year.'_ Eggman pondered.

As the scientist was considering this, he then noticed the blue blur was stirring as the cold air crept into his lair. His ears flattened in slight discomfort, but he still didn't wake up. A soft whimper escaped his lips. Almost as if by instinct, the human petted him gently between the lowered ears. The hedgehog relaxed under the touch and purred in content. Surprised not just by his own reaction, but the hedgehog's as well, he stopped and replaced the blanket back on Sonic. He then decided that it was best not to disturb the azure rodent anymore and to let him sleep.

He was just about to leave, when suddenly; he heard a small whine coming from the generator. Compared to the whimper of pain that he'd heard from Sonic a few weeks ago when he found him, this saddening whine was filled with loneliness and longing.

"Sonic?" He called the hedgehog's name softly to see if he was awake.

The hedgehog only responded by slightly shifting his position; he was still asleep.

He then suddenly saw the inside of the hole start to glow a light blue colour and was glowing brighter. Eggman then looked in and saw that the light was being emitted from Sonic's crest. Out of temptation, even though it might wake Sonic, the doctor touched it.

There was a sudden blinding flash and Ivo had to place his arm in front of his eyes in order to cover them from the all-consuming light.

"What the-?!" Was all that the scientist could utter.

Everything then suddenly went white…

XXX

"Wh-Where am I?" The doctor asked as he looked around the white void. It looked almost like the "White Space" that he was trapped in with his younger time counterpart when he had decided to time travel to the past before, in an attempt to alter the future.

After a few seconds, the empty area came into being and was filled; small fragments clustered together and began to make mass. Eggman found himself on a steep slope and in front of him, on top of the hill was a deep, dense and dark forest. He then heard maniacal laughter coming from behind him. He then turned around to see a dark cloud hovering past him and heading deep into the forest.

'BOOM!' Then he heard the familiar noise of the sound barrier being broken coming from behind him once again. He whipped his head around and saw a blue hedgehog charging up the hill, with a blue aura of the wind around him.

"Mephiles!" Sonic roared out in anger, as he saw the dark cloud disappearing into the trees.

Eggman saw that this Sonic was unscarred and looked more muscular in appearance. The doctor believed that what he was now witnessing was a vision of what happened before he had found Sonic.

He then saw the blue blur about to charge up for another dash, until he heard a voice coming from behind him also.

"Hey, Sonic! Wait up!" A tired wheezing voice shouted from behind the blue hedgehog.

Sonic then turned around, all expressions of anger gone. His gaze fell on a two-tailed fox that was panting heavily from the exertion of attempting to keep up with his 'brother'. The yellow fox then stopped and bent to his knees to take a few breaths. The blue hedgehog then dashed over to the fox.

"Tails…" Sonic said with concern at the exhausted teenager that had followed him all through his life. His genius sometimes saved them when in danger and could sometimes outmatch even Eggman's.

"I'm OK, Sonic…just…need a moment…pant, pant…" The fox replied. He then looked up towards the woods. "So, did it escape in there?" Tails asked.

"Yeah…but I'm going after it." Sonic said with determination in his voice, while looking towards the forest.

"Wha?! You can't go in there! Sally said that's the Acropolian forest. Its spores are said to confuse animals and once you go in, you never come back out."

"Heh…With my speed, Tails, I'll be back before I even inhale a single spore!" Sonic remarked with a confident grin. "You go on back to Knothole and tell Sal what's happened to the mission."

"Alright, Sonic." Tails said with a nod. "But, be careful." He said while heading back down the hill.

The blue hedgehog then turned back towards the fox and gave him a knowable thumbs-up pose that the kit had seen countless times before. "Who do you think you're talking to?" Sonic replied with sarcasm. "I'll be back soon!" The blue blur assured before running off into the forest.

Ivo had been watching this memory play out until it ended, when the world once again fragmented into the white space and then reformed again. This time he was inside the dark forest, with an unsuspecting, solitary Sonic walking by his side.

XXX

Sonic's POV:

'_Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all…'_

Those were my thoughts as I walked through the forest, looking for my target. I was assigned this mission because I was the only one fast enough to keep up with Mephiles. But after a few minutes of dashing around, over and under fallen trees, I was as good as lost. I felt like a blind rat lost on a ship.

I had heard of the infamous Acropolian spores; they confused animals and made them forget things, such as memories, abilities and even the natural functions, such as breathing and eating. These spores were deadly; I was just glad that I didn't bring Tails in here with me.

After about what felt like an hour, my mind started to get hazy and my senses dulled. Colours began to clash, so I couldn't tell what was and wasn't there anymore. Everything was one huge blur of pain. My eyes stung, my hands and skin burned, my nose was stuffed and my ears rung. I just lay down to rest.

XXX

After a long time, I became immune to the spores, but still had no way out of the snow covered forest. The moon was nearly full once again, indicating that I was here for over a month. I gazed around for anything to eat and satisfy my hunger pangs.

I then saw a large Bull Moose grazing nearby with huge, sharp antlers jutting out from its head. I swallowed. _'How could I kill that huge animal without hurting myself?'_ I pondered for a few moments. Since it was the only living thing that I saw in the forest so far, I decided to take my chances on hunting it. I went down on all fours and started to stalk the unsuspecting creature through the thick undergrowth. I hid in the closest bush that I could find and felt the ground beneath me. Then, I slowly made my way over to my prey, while sucking in my breath and trying not to make a sound as I quietly traversed through the rocks and twigs that could so easily betray my presence to the buck.

When I was close enough, almost close enough to touch it, I observed it to try pick out any weaknesses or blind spots. This was also one of my strategies when destroying Egghead's robots. I watched the buck walk through the shrubs; its antlers were my worst fear. They were so sharp that I believed that I could cut myself simply by touching them.

After a few minutes, I'd found my strategy of bringing down the moose. _'First off, I'll need my claws.'_ I thought to myself. I then removed my gloves and placed them into my shoes, so they wouldn't get lost. My claws were rarely exposed to the air and I preferred to keep them that way, but when hunting, they were one of my main tools for hunting and foraging; speed was my other, obviously.

As soon as I saw the buck's head lower again to graze, I then saw my chance and jumped. I landed on the buck's back and gave it a swift bite to its tender neck, embedding my fangs into the fur and skin as far as they'd go. Warm, hot blood seeped into my mouth and dribbled down my muzzle.

The beast bellowed and started to buck ferociously in all directions. I could only cling on with my claws; it felt like a rodeo. The moose kept bucking, twisting and turning, trying to shake me off its back. It was becoming very angry, so I decided that it was time to retreat. The only problem was that my claws were stuck in its flesh. I always had trouble removing my claws. _'OK, just stay calm and retract your claws back.'_

I then allowed my claws to carefully slide out of the meat. The buck then suddenly threw me off his back with one mighty buck and I was sent flying through the air, because I didn't have a proper grip on the animal.

I was sent a good twenty feet away from where I last was. I recovered by twisting my body before it collided with a tree and gripped onto the trunk and landed on the ground.

I then saw the buck charging at me with steam coming out of its nostrils. I then decided that retreating was the best idea at the moment I then took off, but it seemed as though either the moose was gaining on me quicker than I had anticipated, or else I wasn't going anywhere.

When I looked down I saw the reason why and one of my fears. I had landed on a small lake of ice and the traction was getting me nowhere fast! I then started to pour on the energy in order to escape the frozen element, but it was too late. The moose was right on top of me and dug its antlers into my legs. With one mighty throw, I was tossed into the trees. I landed on a branch near the top of a tree, but then I lost my grip and went tumbling down to the ground, with scratches on my face from the other branches hitting me on the way down.

I lay there for a minute before trying to get up. When I did, I regretted it. My legs were covered in scratches, cuts and one of them had a deep gash. I slowly got up with a groan of pain and limped off; I couldn't use my speed until my leg healed.

Without proper care, that would take weeks and I was still hungry. I looked around and spotted some shrubs growing by a mountain. I knew that these shrubs weren't poisonous to me, but in fact would help me and my wounds. I hobbled over, with an awkward gait, towards the brush and started to pluck off a handful of its foliage. I then placed them into my mouth and started to chew the bitter leaves to a pulp. I wouldn't swallow this, however since it would only make me sick as I'd learned previously. Instead, I removed the paste, placed it on my wounds and started to rub it in. This would stop infections and also dull the pain a little.

I then noticed a small cave beside the bush; a perfect place to rest and ride out a snowstorm heading my way. I then limped into the cave, where I survived on dripping water, falling from the ceiling, for several days.

When I couldn't take it no more, I left the cave to hunt, even though I could barely even see the end of my nose and was still limping. That was when I'd accidently bumped into something soft and warm.

"Grr… now what?" I growled.

Then I stopped growling, but still a rumbling sound was being emitted out from the barrier blocking my way. That was when I swallowed and looked up.

"ROOOAARRR!"

"Oh boy…" I said as a giant grizzly bear was in front of me.

The bear took a swipe at my head, but I dodged it and I then ran as fast as my injured legs could go. The only problem was that I couldn't see where I was going over the blizzard. Sure enough, I then found myself falling head over heels down a steep hill. I managed to curl into a ball, in order to protect myself from the rocks hitting my head. Once I'd believed that I had reached the bottom, I uncurled myself and looked up to see how far I'd fallen. It was a long way but thankfully, I had a long head start because of this outcome and dashed back into the deepest part of the forest.

The freezing, howling wind sent shivers over my entire body; even my thick blue fur couldn't protect me from the harsh climate. I didn't know where I was and was starting to think that I'd never get out of here. This place would literally be my grave.

It was then that I felt a sharp pain entering my shoulder…

XXX

Normal POV:

The world then fragmented and was then re-joined once again. Eggman found himself back in his own fortress. He then looked back inside the generator. Sonic was still there, asleep. Ivo had seen everything play out from Sonic's mind. _'Were those his memories or just dreams?'_ The doctor thought to himself. He then looked back at the blue hedgehog. _'He's literally been out of the frying pan and into the fire. This was a hard year for him to survive through. I'm just surprised that he even made it at all since I found him in that horrifying condition. I just hope that the next one is much better for him.' _The scientist reflected.

He then noticed that it was late at night and decided to leave. Before he left, he reached into the hollow and placed a hand on Sonic's shoulder.

"Sleep well, Sonic. See you next year."

The human then left and closed the door behind him, ensuring that the blue blur would no longer be disturbed by anything, until he woke up on his own.

**XXX**

**To be continued…**


	13. Revealing the Past

Chapter 13: Revealing the Past

**Hi everyone! Hope you're enjoying the New Year!**

**Thanks a lot for the 100 reviews, guys!**

**Note: I'll be using some made-up characters in this story. If I accidently name someone's fan character by mistake, then it's only a coincidence and no copyright infringement was intended. I apologize if there's any inconvenience caused.**

**Please enjoy!**

**XXX**

"…ZZzzzzz…." Sonic was snoring quietly.

"…Sonic?" A gruff voice called out through the snoring.

"…ZZzz…"

"Sonic?" The voice repeated the name again.

"…Five more minutes." Sonic muttered sleepily.

"Sonny, boy." The voice shouted a little more firmly than before.

"But I don't wanna go to school today, Unc." Sonic moaned irritably.

"SONIC!" The voice roared out, startling Sonic awake from his sleep.

He then looked up to see a senior, light blue hedgehog with a white moustache and brown shoes on his feet. He recognised this hedgehog immediately; it was his uncle Charles, or 'Chuck' as some of his family and friends called him. Sonic was both surprised and happy to see him again, but then, he was aware that he was dreaming because his uncle had died a few months ago. He also realized this dream, since he was no longer in Eggman's base, but on a grassy plain, with mountains all around.

"Yo, Unc! What's up?" Sonic asked as he rose to his feet and looked around. "Where are we, anyway?" Sonic questioned as he gazed at the pleasing surroundings.

"It's good to see you, Sonic. We're on Colossal Plains" His uncle replied with a friendly smile.

"I don't think I've ever heard that name before and I've been just about everywhere in this world." The blue hedgehog said with a tilted head and then yawned.

"And you never will hear that name again, nephew." The light blue hedgehog replied. "But that's not important now, nor is it why I've brought you here. There is something I wish to show you; something that you must see with your own eyes." He explained while walking away, his back turned to his nephew.

"What is it?" Sonic asked with haste and eagerness in his voice, while raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"You'll see…for now, follow me." He said mysteriously while glancing back and then ran at a jog.

Sonic followed after him. During the journey across the plain, he took everything in; the sights, sounds and scents of the grassland. The sun was shining and a strong breeze blew through his quills. To Sonic, it was great to be running again, even if it was only in his dreams.

As soon as they crossed the plain and reached the nearest mountain summit, the blue blur's uncle then broke the silence.

"We're here." The light blue hedgehog replied.

"What's here?" Sonic asked. He was then startled when someone else was amongst them.

It was another blue hedgehog, but this one had a darker pelt than Sonic. It was almost black in colour. He also had a more feral appearance than a modern Mobian hedgehog; his claws and fangs were longer and more exposed. In a word, it was wilder. He also had some strange armour on him. It was only covering a few vital parts of the hedgehog's body including the stomach and head. It also had sharp blades jutting out from the bracers and elbow armour on the arms.

He then looked at Sonic.

"He can't see or hear you, nephew. We're about 250 years in the past." Chuck replied to Sonic, as he was about to speak to the mysterious newcomer.

"Then who-?" Sonic asked curiously as he looked in the opposite direction. He then saw a human coming towards them in a suit of armour and a sword by his side. Sonic instantly recognised the human; he looked a lot like Eggman, save for a few differences, such as the height and weight, but the similar-looking moustache was a dead give-away.

The dark hedgehog was the first to speak. "Are the others ready, Ivan?" He asked while looking down from the mountain towards the plains.

"Everyone's in position, Soul."

"Good. They'll be here soon."

"Who is this guy?!" Sonic asked his uncle in astonishment.

"That's Soul, one of our ancestors from centuries ago. What I want you to see is what happens next."

Sonic just stood in silence as he watched what happened.

XXX

After a few minutes, clouds of dust could be seen in the distance. An army of humans was approaching and entered the plains.

'_NOW!' _Soul called out through his mind, so as to not give away their position. Ivan then removed his sword from its scabbard and reflected it off the sun's rays, giving off a glint and the signal to attack. Soul then jumped from the cliffs edge and started to descend to the ground.

On the plains below, their comrades saw the sheen and begun the attack on the enemy army. A large battalion of armoured animals of every species and humans appeared out of the bushes surrounding the valley walls and charged towards the enemies.

Soul dashed across the plains as fast as he could go. He soon joined his comrades in the battle and sliced down his enemies with his swift movements and sharp blades.

Sonic then understood that the armour was meant for light travel and fleet movements. Soul was suited for speed techniques, like himself. He just couldn't get how one of his ancestors had teamed up with Eggman's ancestor. He then realized that Soul had used telepathy, just like he had recently discovered. Maybe this "dream" would provide some answers.

Below him, Soul had assisted in bringing down some of the army. He had a cut to the leg that made him limp a little. As he was looking around the plain to see who needed help, he didn't see one enemy soldier behind him.

But Ivan did.

'_Soul, behind you!'_ Ivan called out through his mind.

Said hedgehog immediately spun around to see a human about to attack with a sword. The human suddenly collapsed with a death groan, because Ivan had leapt off the cliff and plunged his sword into the human's back. The last sounds from the dying human were the gurgling sounds of blood being spewed out from his mouth.

"Thank you, Ivan." Soul said with appreciation.

Soul then ran forward and a powerful gust of wind blasted from him, creating a tornado that ripped across the plain. Soul managed to control it, so it wouldn't hurt his comrades.

Once the numbers of the enemy army had diminished to but a few survivors, Ivan commanded his comrades to stop and spare the few humans that remained.

"Everyone! ENOUGH!" He shouted. "We will shed no more blood and the rest of you will be spared." He said while pointing his sword towards the few survivors. "But give you leader this message: The Soul Keepers will never be defeated by the Legion. The bonds between humans and animals are strong and cannot be broken so easily. This is what will lead to the Legion's downfall. Go now before I change my mind."

Once the survivors left, the Soul Keepers retreated back to their territory. Ivan noticed that Soul had remained silent during the journey, with a look of deep rage on his face.

XXX

That evening…

XXX

In a secret fort inside that same valley, the two leaders of the Soul Keepers were complaining and arguing about the events that occurred earlier in the battle.

"So that's it?! We just let the survivors go after what they put us through?!" Soul growled in frustration with his teeth bared at his partner.

"It's the right thing to do. You already know the pact that we made amongst ourselves to never slay too many innocents; how many Legionnaires do you think were commanding the entire army?" Ivan replied.

Soul scoffed. "Too many if you ask me. But we've lost some of our comrades today and for nothing if we can't avenge them."

"Their deaths will not be in vain. We will stop them, but we have to be careful too, otherwise things could get worse than ever before."

"Yeah, like when they attacked us a few moons ago?! We lost half of our comrades that day and most of the deaths were innocents!" Soul shouted angrily. His voice then suddenly went quieter and sadness could easily be heard in it. "Even my mate was among those mercilessly slaughtered that day."

"I know what you're feeling, Soul. When a human loses something that's precious to him, he loses his soul along with it and you stop at nothing to take revenge on whoever has stolen it from you. But taking revenge is foolish. Even more so, if you hang on to your resentment and hate afterwards; it will only destroy you, in time."

"Still following your dreams, Ivan?" Soul replied with cold sarcasm. "Of a simple, peaceful co-existence between us and the Legion? When will you get it into your head that we should strike now while their numbers are low and destroy them once and for all before they replenish their numbers and completely wipe us out? I think it's time for you to wake up and stop living in a dream." He growled and then replied, "I'm leaving to see what I can do to stop this and don't try to stop me."

"Soul wait!" Ivan called out, but Soul was already gone.

XXX

As you probably know, Sonic, he failed to stop the Legion." Charles said to his nephew after the memories stopped and they were in a "White Space."

"What happened to him?" Sonic asked, fearing the answer.

"The Legion captured and tortured him and in that time, his hate for the Legion grew to be unbearable. He also grew to hate the Soul Keepers even more because not one of them came to rescue him over his foolishness; no one knew where to look. His special abilities started to fade over the time that he was captured. And once he was broken and the Legion controlled him, his soul was black. He had no connection to Ivan anymore; he'd forgotten all about him. Soul became known as Dark Soul and started to wipe out the Soul keepers, driving them to extinction under the Legion's command."

Sonic then got a mental image of the Dark hedgehog and recognized it to be the same one on the cameras that Ivo had shown him when he destroyed half the base recently.

"I noticed that he had the power to hear Ivan's mind, like I can with Eggman. Does that make us Soul Keepers too?" The blue blur asked.

"Yes." His uncle answered, and then his face showed concern. "But you don't know what danger you're putting yourself into, the sacrifices that have to be made, or the heavy responsibilities that you must bear for this. You both still have so much to learn and lots of training to endure. I suggest you get to it; I predict a war coming and you must stop the Legion before they take over the world."

Sonic then saw the white world start to fade into black and realized that had little time to ask his uncle the questions that he desperately wanted answered. "How will I start?"

"You must start by searching for the ancient scrolls about the Soul Keepers around the world." Charles added. "This will get you started. And a word of caution, Sonic, be careful on deciding which side you choose to be on."

"Wait! What do you mean?! Sonic asked.

"Soul's biggest mistake was doing what he was told." He said as he disappeared into the darkness.

Then the world went black.

XXX

Sonic then opened his eyes and saw that the world that he saw was upside down. He groaned and then realized that _he_ was the one who was upside down. He got up and noticed that he had fallen out of the generator in Eggman's base.

'_Wait a minute…I'm in Eggman's base! I'm awake! I survived the winter! Whoo-hoo!'_ Sonic whooped and cheered, then started to kiss the cold, metallic floor. He then started to resent his actions. _'Uh, yuck! What am I doing?! I better do something to get rid of this disgusting taste!'_ He thought while attempting to brush the foul taste off his tongue with his gloved hand.

Sonic then withdrew from his lair and dashed upstairs.

XXX

In another section of the base, the master of the fortress woke. He got up and headed for the kitchen, believing that he needed some coffee to start his cold, late-winter morning.

He then entered one side of the huge black and white tiled kitchen and noticed that there was a light illuminating a small part of the kitchen and it appeared to be originating from the refrigerator. He then found the light switch and turned on the kitchen light; the room suddenly lit up and Eggman saw that he wasn't alone in the room.

'_Oops…Busted!'_

Sonic looked up, while munching on a piece of chilidog in his mouth, as soon as the light was activated and his gaze fell on the doctor. He stopped chewing and his expression became a startled one, as he was surprised to see the doctor so soon. Ivo also had the same blank and surprised look on his face with both his eyebrows raised. They both stared at each other for a few seconds, and then Eggman saw the mess on the floor; Sonic also followed his gaze.

Ivo's jaw practically hit the floor and Sonic had to stifle a snicker over this hilarious emotion that he had caused to the doctor because of his grubby eating habits. The human then dropped his coffee cup from shock and it shattered into thousands of pieces. Sonic then swallowed the last of his chilidog and then gulped on reflex from anxiety.

"Heh, heh…Hi…" Sonic chuckled nervously and lowered his ears while waving a hand; a nervous but innocent-looking grin on his muzzle.

The doctor's expression then suddenly changed from a calm demeanour, to a really peeved look, with steam coming out of his ears.

Sonic knew this face very well. It usually only appeared when the blue blur had defeated a powerful robot or insulted Eggman. A sweat drop appeared on the hedgehog's face. _'And here it comes…Three…Two…One…'_

"GET OUT OF MY KITCHEN!" Ivo roared. His face had now turned bright red in frustration.

Sonic the Hedgehog had never run so fast in his life, for quite a while.

As Sonic was running out, he heard the doctor's voice in his head.

'_It's good to have you back, Sonic.'_ Eggman then groaned.

XXX

A few hours later…

XXX

Eggman's bots had managed to capture Sonic after his little mischief making during that morning. And after they had restrained and subdued him, they wasted no time in bringing him to their master.

"Ah, Sonic!" The doctor said in an awfully sarcastic and cheery tone and with an immense and triumphant smile on his face, when he saw the blue hedgehog being dragged into his office, obviously enjoying every moment of this. "I see that you couldn't continuously out-run my robots scattered all over the base."

Sonic rolled his eyes and just stood there silent, clearly not in the mood for this. He looked very agitated and his legs were moving restlessly as he shifted his weight from one leg to another in order to pump more blood into the arteries and veins.

The human saw this and continued. "Don't think that you've escaped your punishment for messing up my precious kitchen." He paused to let it sink into the rodent's mind, and then continued. "Because it starts right now!" Eggman replied sternly with his teeth bared.

Sonic groaned and then doctor then led the hedgehog down the narrow hallways towards a huge steel door. Sonic had never seen this one before, as the access to it was forbidden to him. As soon as Ivo entered a secret code that the blue blur didn't see, the door started to open from the bottom and Sonic was met with something that he thought he would never see again.

A strong gust of wind blew through the aperture; the cold chill ran through the hedgehog's quills and skin, sending shivers down the blue blur's back in pleasure and eagerness. His legs were suddenly itching to run; He was dying to run, but still didn't know whether to move or not.

'_Punishment, huh? More like torture! I think that it's more of a test though. I'll bet Egghead's waiting to see if I'll crack or something. Maybe he wants to see if I'll escape on the first chance I get.'_ Sonic thought to himself, while his attention was captivated to the wide open space that the perimeter had to offer; miles and miles of it. He looked as though he had just seen Heaven, because the snow on the ground reminded him of the soft, fluffy clouds in the sky.

"Well what are you waiting for, Sonic? Your punishment is that you've got 2 hours to make 100 laps around the fortress and your time has already started."

"What?!" Sonic said surprised at this with his emerald eyes wide. "And I suppose you didn't take into account that I might escape?" The blue hedgehog added cockily.

"Actually, I did. You won't get out with _that_ on you." Eggman replied while pointing to the black collar still hanging around Sonic's neck, since it was impossible to remove without a key and was also quill-proofed. "Now-" The doctor said calmly, and then, "GET MOVING!" was what he shouted.

XXX

"WHOO-HOO! HA HA HA!" Sonic cried out in contentment as he ran at the speed of sound once again in what felt like forever in his mind.

Sonic felt as though he had been confined long enough in Eggman's narrow base to last a lifetime: the base was far too small to use his full speed. It only took him a few strides to iron out the rustiness in his legs, and was soon back at supersonic speeds that only he could achieve. He felt the glorious wind racing with him; his strong legs were finally able to stretch to their full potential. He cheered as he rounded yet another corner at the speed that would have sent any pursuing robot flying.

'_Oh, how I missed this!'_ He thought to himself. A smile danced on his muzzle. He felt alive and he felt like himself again. He felt great.

A Sonic Boom had already erupted across the perimeter and the blue blur felt at one with the air. The light layer of snow on the ground had no effect on his speed.

There was truly nothing like the freedom that he felt to move and run again.

His muscles were pumping and sang as he moved. Adrenaline and blood coursed through his expanded veins, his fur was ruffled, but Sonic couldn't have been happier, collar on him or not.

It was nearly two hours when Sonic finished his hundred lap marathon; a counter and timer watch on his wrist told him that. It also displayed his accelerated heart rate. The blue hedgehog slowed to a halt beside a tree. His chest was still heaving slightly from the exertion, as he made his way with ambling steps towards the base's entrance once again.

XXX

"Well I hope that you've learned your lesson, Sonic; no more midnight snacks." Eggman said, conceited as he saw the blue hedgehog return to the fortress, still panting from the exercise.

"Says the one who probably has one every minute, day and night." The blue blur muttered mockingly.

Thankfully, Eggman didn't hear that one; otherwise he might have sent him out again to do 1,000 laps.

"Yep." Sonic only said, while turning around to face the doctor, a grin of enjoyment creeping on the side of his face. _'I honestly did!'_ He said using his thoughts.

'_Glad to know!'_ Ivo replied as he placed a larger hand on Sonic's shoulder, and then walked ahead.

In less than a second, Sonic quickly caught up to him. "So how long has it been since I was last awake?"

"A little over three weeks and it's spring now." Was the reply.

"Wow, feels like only yesterday. Time sure flies, but not as fast as I can run." Sonic boasted with a grin.

"Don't remind me." Ivo joked with a smile, while looking at the blue blur.

Eggman was extremely surprised that he could talk to Sonic like this, and without taunts or witty comebacks necessary, like in the old days. This was a very different Sonic than the one that he was used to. Maybe Sonic wasn't kidding about accepting him as a friend. Ivo had no friends, apart from his robots. They, however, couldn't give him the company that he wanted; they only talked back when obeying his commands or explaining something to their master. It was boring as a matter of fact, compared to a real living, breathing person, who could discuss just about anything with another living being. For the doctor, having Sonic around felt very different indeed.

Eggman was about to continue the conversation, when he suddenly saw Orbot and Cubot hovering down the hallway at some speed, while waving their arms in the air.

"Sir! We've got trouble!" Orbot said nervously.

"Yeah, some of the bots just went berserk." Cubot added.

"What?!" Eggman replied surprised. He then got out his watch and checked the date. As soon as he saw it, he groaned and face palmed.

"What is it? Forgot to feed them? Don't you know how to take care of your pets?" Sonic joked with sarcasm while placing his gloved fists on his hips and tapping a foot on the floor, signifying impatience.

"I forgot to perform an upgraded maintenance on a group of robots. It confirms their obedience to me. They're trying to rebel and that's dangerous." Eggman stated. He then muttered while pondering, "They'll have to be destroyed, but where am I going to find something strong and fast…enough…to…!" A thought then entered his mind as he reached an epiphany to solve the matter.

The doctor then whipped around to the hedgehog with a smile on his face. "Oh, Sonic…" He said in a kind of singsong voice.

"Hmm?" Was the brief response out of the blue blur. A bored look was on his face and his arms were crossed.

"You look a little bored; how about some form of amusement to pass the time?"

"Oh, yeah? Like what?" Sonic said cockily and with ignorance, but one of his ears twitched, intent on listening to what the doctor had to say.

"How about a few robots that need to be dismantled?" Was the scientist's reply.

Sonic's head turned, now more interested and alert to the doctor's proposition. Taking Eggman's robots apart was one thing that he did best, aside from running.

"Why the generous offer, Egghead?" The blue blur asked.

"It's for my –" He then coughed "- I mean _our_ protection." Ivo said while clearing his throat at that last blunder.

Sonic groaned, obviously knowing the doctor a _little _too well. He then said something that was also well known about these offers. "Alright, what's the catch?"

"These new robots have a special camouflage ability; their tough armour makes them invisible. A pity that they have to be destroyed, but, oh well, safety first. And you won't be punished for destroying them, either."

"Hmph!" Sonic replied in an all too familiar way that resembled another distinct hedgehog. "Is that all?" Sonic added with a boastful confidence. "Alright! Bring it on!" He then said, pleased to have a challenge.

**XXX**

**To be continued…**


	14. The Punishment

Chapter 14: The Punishment

**Hi, guys. I was looking over the beginning of this story recently and I realized that I forgot to add one important rule: This story is NOT yaoi intended. Yaoi to me means kissing and lemons; something that I'm definitely not adding in. Anything lower than this is considered friendship. Sorry for the inconvenience. **

**P.S. Please enjoy and don't forget to review!**

XXX

"HAH!" Sonic barked as he dodged another attack and aims a homing attack at where he believed one of the invisible robots was located.

He has already taken down seven, with a few more to go. They can only keep their guise up for a short time.

'_They appear, attack, and disappear immediately afterwards.' _Eggman had warned once again from behind a reinforced glass wall. He was on the other side of the glass, looking in at the fight. He had a front row seat to this spectacle. All he needed now was some popcorn.

Orbot and Cubot had managed to seal off the sector with the defective robots, so they couldn't bring harm to their master. Sonic the Hedgehog was then sent in to deal with them after he agreed to this and was prepared to fight.

"Hmm…" The blue hedgehog looked around, trying to anticipate where and when the next robot would strike.

One suddenly appeared in front of him, ready to shoot and then one of his blue furred, triangular ears swerved when he heard another gun cock behind him. *Chk-chk*

Within a millisecond, Sonic leapt upwards as the bullets were fired at his previous location on the ground. Both the robots were then riddled with each other's ammo and immediately exploded.

Sonic then landed on the ground in a crouched position. He then stood up and brushed himself off. "And that's all of them!" The hedgehog replied in confident triumph.

Eggman looked at all the bodies. He counted nine fallen metallic soldiers. "As I recall, there were _ten_ robots." The scientist stated.

"What?!" Sonic replied and whipped around to Ivo when he heard this.

He was then met with a painful sting near the back of his upper right arm, as the last missing robot lashed out with its clawed hand and sliced into the flesh.

"Augh!" Sonic yelped in pain and clutched his bleeding arm. A small flit of worried emotion appeared on Ivo's face for a brief second, though the hedgehog was too busy examining his arm to take any notice to this rare moment.

The blue blur decided to ignore his moderately bleeding arm for now until he finished off the last robot. In one free flowing move he prepared to perform another homing attack. He could now see some of the robot because some flecks of his blood were now on the metallic minion, exposing it. He dodged another swipe at his throat by back-flipping and then, the blue hedgehog shot forward in a blue streak and performed a powerful kick on his attacker's plated chest. The azure rodent bounced backwards on impact, while the robot crashed into a wall and exploded on collision.

Sonic then performed a backflip in the air in order to land on his feet. As soon as he landed, his momentum brought him against the wall and then, he checked his arm. He didn't even notice Eggman walking in with a few clean-up robots behind him, until he saw the doctor standing in front of him.

The human reached outward, palm forward in the gesture of need. His voice was calm and soft. "Let me see your arm." Sonic cringed at the gesture and hid his damaged arm better from the doctor's sight. "Just a scratch." The hedgehog remarked without glancing at the wound a second time and masking his pain. Ivo looked at the hedgehog, waiting for him to comply with the request. A few seconds pass before the doctor pleads again. "Please, I need to see your arm, Sonic."

Still a little untrustworthy over fearing a trick, said azure hedgehog, however, cooperated with the scientist's demand. He seemed serious to him. Sonic then reached his peach furred forearm out towards the doctor to present the damage. A large gash striped the skin; blood had already made itself present, alerting the person to a wound that seriously needed tending to. Eggman sucked in air through his bared teeth in a sound known as regretful sympathy. He then took the hedgehog's gloved hand in his own larger one and led him out of the sector. They left a few confused robots behind, who started chattering amongst themselves in beeps and clicks within a matter of seconds once they were gone.

XXX

'_What the hell? Just what is Eggman up to anyways?'_ Sonic mused, through his controlled, unheard thoughts, a step behind the doctor. _'What if he wants to destroy me, now that I'm injured and useless to him after trashing his dangerous robots?'_ He then thought dreadfully. But then decided against it, believing that his thoughts were getting to him; Ivo fixed him once when he was in a far worse condition; this cut was nothing and the human could certainly fix him again.

While Sonic was lost in his thoughts, he was suddenly brought back to his senses when he noticed that they'd stopped outside a door. With a flick of his wrist, the human turned the knob, and opened the door.

Sonic's pulse started to quicken. _'Oh, great!' _The hedgehog then produced a deep, but soft, whimpering and saddening whine in his throat and lowered his ears. _'Another surgery!'_ Sonic still loathed operating rooms. He then looked down, hoping the scientist would go somewhere else and not bring him in there.

Eggman made a noise that resembled a small cough, and turned his head back to the blue blur's direction. "Did you say something?"

Sonic then whipped his head up, surprised, towards Ivo, and spoke in a soft, childish tone, hoping to fool him. "No...I, um…had to clear something from my throat."

"Mmmm, hmmm." The human's response was small and unconvinced; he believed that he had heard a small whine of dread and fear coming from behind him. He then beckoned to the room.

Sonic then sighed in disdain; there was no way out of this. He then trudged into the small sterile room and once the hedgehog heard the lock click, the blue blur knew he was doomed. _'Trapped.'_ Sonic then thought.

"Sit." The command was firm, and the doctor motioned towards the surgery table, with a nod from the head in that general direction. "And don't try anything funny, like the last time, alright Sonic?" Eggman added with a smirk.

The hedgehog hesitated for a second over his memento to his phobia, but complied, not wanting to have a wrathful scientist to deal with as well; one fight today was enough. He jumped effortlessly up onto the table and sat down, and then Sonic intently watched the doctor rummage around under the counters, ready to dish out a world of hurt if he tried something nasty. Ivo's shoulders rose and fell underneath his crimson jacket, and paused when he found what he was searching for. "Ah-ha!" Eggman barked when he found his target. Sonic's blue, triangular ears twitched when he heard the doctor speak in triumph. Ivo then presented a small, white box with a red cross on the top, the universal symbol for a first-aid kit to a pair of surprised emerald green eyes. The doctor then placed it on the counter and opened it up. Sonic watched him carefully, like a curious cat, from the table. The human then strolled over to the metallic sink beside the operating table and turned the cold water tap on to produce a slow flowing stream of the clear liquid. Eggman then gently grasped Sonic's unharmed wrist of the injured arm and gently pulled him towards the direction of the sink. "Here, Sonic, run your wound under the faucet." Obediently, the blue blur outstretched the injured arm under the spigot. The cool feel of the water contacted with the cut and stung at first, making Sonic gasp and flinch, then it brought some relief to the hedgehog; it felt good. The blood ran down the peach-furred arm and it disappeared with the rushing water. He then pulled out his arm once he noticed the wound was starting to clot and that there was almost no more blood to give.

The blue hedgehog then swivelled around to the rotund scientist, who was waiting very patiently with a cotton swab and a brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide. The human then placed the ball of fluff over the mouth of the bottle and tossed it upside-down for a split second, before returning it to its normal position. "Now, this might sting a little." he warned as he gingerly reclaimed the blue blur's arm in his hand, and lowered the wet swab onto the wound.

The silence was broken when Sonic inhaled deeply from the feeling. Eggman then cringed at the deepness of the wound; he wasn't able to observe the true extent of the damage, since the crimson liquid had obstructed his view, but now he could see it since the water purified the injury. His patient needed stitches for the wound to heal properly.

"I require you to lie down and hold still." The doctor commanded and then headed to the kit and pulled out a few things covered in wrappers.

Meanwhile, Sonic had decided to take the option of lying down on his peach-furred stomach on the sterile table. His cut ached and pained, tearing open a little more as he moved into a more comfortable position. Ivo soon returned with something shiny in his hand; it was a needle with some liquid inside.

"This is going to hurt even more, but rest assured, it _is_ for your own good." He said as he prepared the needle by tapping it and releasing some of the liquid from the chamber.

One of Sonic's emerald eyes twitched in fear as he looked forward and saw the scientist with the needle in a mirror's reflection. He panicked, fearful that he'd laced the syringe with something deadly. He felt his heart beat faster and adrenaline started to pump through his bloodstream.

"NOOO!" The blue blur wailed in protest as he twisted around and succeeded in pinning down the doctor's scarred arm onto the table with his gloved hand. "I know what you're up to! My friends will find my body eventually, and then they'll execute your sorry ass!" Sonic hissed through a dark look.

The older human looked at him quizzically, without wrestling to reclaim his now subdued arm and raising an eyebrow at the hedgehog. "What the hell are you on about? I need to stitch up _that_ wound, or _you're_ going to be the one that's sorry," Ivo growled.

Sonic froze for a moment, allowing the words to sink in. Eggman was really only trying to help him, but the hedgehog still hadn't fully opened up, believing that it was all just a trick. He then thought about the past, the sudden change in the doctor's demeanour, his doubts about the human, and decided that now he should let it all go. It was over, finished. After all, he had nothing else to lose.

Eggman then added after witnessing a surprising moment of silence from the hedgehog, "Should I just leave it and perform an amputation or a robotization instead?" He asked the blue blur.

The hedgehog then looked up. "Sorry." Sonic breathed. He then calmed, levelled out his breathing and lowered his eyelids over his green irises, mostly over regret, but also to block out the stress. He then released the doctor's arm and returned to his original position on the table.

Once again, Ivo reclaimed possession of the wounded arm and gently pulled it backwards, placing the hedgehog's hand near his pelvis. "It's only a local anaesthetic I'm giving you and then I'll start the procedure." The doctor explained while preparing the syringe and also when he witnessed the brief twinge of fear in his patient's eyes at the sight of the injection.

"Just get this through." Sonic said while putting on an air of toughness and looked away. Eggman sighs quietly, knowing that this is just another mask to hide his fear. The scientist then impaled the sharp object into the wounded skin.

'_Son-of-a-bitch!'_ Sonic screamed mentally, but it only translated physically through his lips as a small pained noise. It didn't matter, however, Ivo managed to hear him both ways.

The doctor then carefully removed the needle once it was empty. "It'll take a moment to kick in." He replied and then returned to his kit to fish out something else that was necessary, but not before tenderly running a hand from Sonic's forehead to his quills as he left. This emitted a small groan and left a small blush on the hedgehog's muzzle. After a minute, Sonic couldn't feel his arm anymore; it was completely numbed by the drug. He tried moving his fingers, but he couldn't feel it even though he saw them shift.

Eggman soon returned with some latex gloves and held up a small hook-like needle with a long flowing tail of string attached to it to the hedgehog, so that he could see what the doctor was about to do. Ivo saw that the gash was lined with pink, signifying that the blue blur's body was doing its job of eradicating foreign materials. The scientist then started just below the inflamed flesh, and impaled the hook through.

Sonic didn't feel any pain. Just a small amount of pressure when the needle went through the skin, out the other side and was pulled out, with the string following. Ivo continued, paying full attention to the hedgehog's emotions, just in case, as he slid the needle again and again through the folds of skin, uniting them together.

While he was stitching, Sonic told him about what had happened after his hibernation and about the scrolls that were scattered around the world. He then asked the doctor if he'd seen any, but the scientist never even heard about the scrolls and promised that he'd look into it further. After that, the human told the blue blur that there were more side effects to the serum than previously thought. Once Ivo revealed his symptoms, Sonic laughed at this and said mockingly, "Are you sure that you're not turning into me?" He replied sarcastically.

Once the doctor had finished, he got a scissors and cut the string. Then, as a caution, the doctor then swabbed the now closed wound with more peroxide in case any materials had found its way onto the skin. The human's shoulders heaved with a sigh, and then he tossed the now useless needle and its wrappers into a trash can, with his blood-flecked rubber gloves. As Eggman was doing this, Sonic lifted his arm towards his body and gently smoothed his fingers over the closed wound. _'Wow, look at this stitching…'_

"Don't touch that!" The doctor softly barked, stern as a parent. The blue hedgehog jerked his finger back, with a speed that he was known for, at this warning, as if he had been burned by the forbidden injury. Eggman then added in an amused tone, "Or will I have to put a vet cone on you?" With his lips curling into a smile.

One of Sonic's eye brows were raised at this and a snide look was plastered on his face. The hedgehog then replied, "I'll pass on that offer…"

Ivo then reached into his box for another object and pulled out a roll of medical gauze. The blue blur held out his arm expectantly and obediently. The scientist then coiled the soft gauze around the wound, a cut was made through the material and then some tape to the skin signified the end to Eggman's role as "doctor".

Emerald eyes glared back with a lucid look. _'Thank you.'_

"How long will it take before I can feel my arm again?" Sonic asked while he prodded his arm, with a finger from his good hand, to see if he could feel anything.

"About an hour." Was the doctor's reply to the question.

As Ivo was cleaning up the room, Sonic took the option to take a small break, until he regained feeling back into his arm. He lay on his side with his good, scarred arm holding up his head and looked out a window. Eggman looked to see what Sonic was doing and made sure that his patient didn't hurt himself again. He was surprised to see the hedgehog lying idle and not running rampant as he usually was. The doctor then remembered that he had to thank Sonic for taking care of his defective robots and bringing order to the base once again; perhaps even more chilidogs on a plate would suffice.

The human then gazed down at Sonic's strong, muscular legs, which had never failed the hedgehog and proved to be a powerful source of strength for the blue blur. He then saw that some of the cobalt fur around the inside of one of Sonic's leg had transformed into a shade of purple. As the doctor carefully edged towards the hedgehog, he saw some blood was the cause of the colour change.

"Sonic, is your leg bleeding?" The doctor asked with concern, believing that another robot had injured the blue blur during the fight.

"What?!" Sonic barked loudly, as though he was startled and then looked down to the so-called wound. "That?" Sonic asked while pointing down to the dyed fur. "That's nothing, don't worry about it."

"I'll be the judge of that once I've seen it." Eggman muttered under his breath and then pulled the hedgehog's toned leg back in one quick move.

"He-HEY! Stop that!" The blue blur growled, with a slight blush on his muzzle. His peach arm was still too numb for it to be used. But Eggman didn't stop. He then noticed that the wound had originated in the groin region and was bleeding heavily. Instead, he got a wet towel and stared to clean the wound. "N-NO! EGGMAN WAIT, PLEASE, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND-!" Sonic shouted. But it was already too late, however.

The doctor saw a small thin hole on the hedgehog's crotch that was leaking blood at a slow rate. The scientist couldn't understand it; the hole looked old and permanent, the pouch above it obviously hid the reproductive organ and the tail hole was nowhere close. From his studies of anatomy, Ivo only saw this type of hole in a completely different species and there was no way that Sonic should have it. Unless…

"Sonic…you're a…" Ivo stated as he released the hedgehog's leg.

"Yep," Sonic answered. "I tried to warn you, didn't I? Don't ever do that again." Sonic replied once he had calmed down from this humiliating act.

"You're right. I apologize. I just didn't know that it was even possible." Eggman said with an astounded expression on his face.

"Well, tell me then… _doctor_," the hedgehog replied mockingly, snarling out the last word, "How often in your life did you come across a he-… a hama-…"

"A hermaphrodite?" Ivo corrected.

"Right, what you said." Sonic replied.

"I've never encountered one before, especially one who could hide it so well. "Is this another side effect to the serum?" Eggman pondered; He wanted to know everything about this.

"No." Was the small reply.

"Then how are you-?"

Sonic heaved a long sigh in defeat, knowing he'd have to give up his darkest secret; He just never thought that he'd have to tell it to his former nemesis.

"It's a birth defect. I've had this my entire life."

"How did this happen?" The doctor asked.

"I'll only tell you if you promise never to tell anyone else about this."

"Alright, I promise." He wasn't crossing his fingers behind his back either, so he was making a full truthful and honest promise.

Sonic smiled at this, once he saw that this was no lie. "Well, it goes like this…"

XXX

*Eggman's POV:*

Sonic's story of what transpired was extremely remarkable and intriguing. It turned out that every Mobian creature is born with both genitals and as it develops, one fades away before birth, depending on the genes. Sonic was born too premature and this didn't happen, so he had retained both. Only his deceased parents and Uncle had known about it.

It also turned out that hermaphrodites, or hybrids, that Mobians called them were forbidden. They were banished, left to die or killed once born, for fears of what they were; not one or the other, and were more powerful than a normal male or female. Sonic was lucky; He was almost fully male, and his feminine side was perfectly hidden, so no one could see a difference, unless they looked closer.

Sonic used to bleed almost every month after his heat cycle had ended. He usually told his friends that it was either from a recent battle with me or a flesh wound that he accidently reopened while running.

XXX

*Normal POV:*

"So that's the story." Sonic replied with a sad look on his face.

"It's really interesting, Sonic." Eggman replied, taking notice of the hedgehog's expression; he looked miserable after telling the doctor this and ashamed of what he was. Ivo decided that he had to cheer him up. "I guess that explains a lot, including why you always run away from Amy." He teased. The hedgehog didn't even crack a grin at this. "Sonic, if it makes you feel better, I'll tell you my secret."

"Ok." Sonic groaned.

"Well, to tell you the truth, Sonic…" The doctor then removed his crimson jacket, revealing only the black interior top. He pressed a button on it, and suddenly, it deflated. Sonic stared, transfixed with disbelief at what he saw. Ivo wasn't as fat as he led others to believe; He was actually built pretty well. "…It gets awfully hot." Eggman replied while removing his glasses, revealing his blue eyes.

Sonic's jaw dropped. "You're secret is that you lied about your weight! …I…I, uh…" The hedgehog stuttered at this surprise before he had managed to regain his confident composure. "I guess I'll have to scratch calling you Eggman now." Sonic sniggered after witnessing the doctor's shocking transformation. "And I'll have to scratch off a great deal of other names too." The blue blur remarked under his breath. "So, is this another side-effect too?" He asked the scientist.

"No. I've always been this build. People who want power have to be intimidating and big, so I took on this guise."

"Ah. I see, Eggman."

"Please, Sonic, as a friend, just call me Ivo."

"Ivo…but why?" The hedgehog asked while cocking his head to the side with curiosity.

"Sonic, it doesn't matter what I call myself, I'll still remain the same, personality wise. Am I quite right, 'Sonic'?" The doctor smirked at this, knowing that he had won.

The hedgehog's muzzle turned white and his emerald eyes went wide while he mentally gasped; Sonic was only his nickname that he'd adopted when he was younger, but there was no way he was going to let his original name slip. "Right." Sonic replied quickly while shifting nervously. "Now let me out of here. I've seen my fair share of hospitals to last me a lifetime."

XXX

*Later on…*

A sleeping Sonic was lying peacefully on a sofa near a fire after eating an entire plate of chilidogs. The fight, time of day, anxiety from revealing his secret and his meal had made him lethargic. The pressure had put a significant amount of stress on his furred body and made him tired.

Eggman was also sitting close by, reading a book. He was disturbed from his avocation when he heard a beeping noise from his computer, indicating there was a recently sent message on it. Ivo placed his bookmark onto the appropriate page, closed it and got up, grunting quietly as his muscles ached. He then strolled over to the computer to check the mail. He saw the new one and opened it up, intending to read the contents. As soon as he saw it, his face turned pale, his expression nervous, very nervous and worried. He was expecting a visitor in less than a week. His base had to be perfect. He then looked over towards Sonic, who was sleeping soundly, thinking about what to do with him.

'_Let him go?' _

'_No, he'll die before he's even halfway to the nearest civilization.'_

'_Lock him up?'_

'_No, he won't like staying still and will lose trust in me.'_

'_Kill him?'_

'_Even I'm not that cruel!'_

Ivo kept on thinking of a suitable method. He then had one in mind and it would have to wait until morning.

XXX

*The next day:*

Sonic woke up with the morning sun and stretched his toned body. He then sensed that he wasn't alone in the room and saw Eggman then enter and blocked the doorway. He then reached over to a wastebasket for umbrellas with his scarred right hand and pulled something out. It resembled a long, thin beating stick. "Right. Come here." The doctor commanded.

XXX

*A few days later:*

A hovercraft touched down outside the giant fortress and once the door opened, a small man walked out and walked towards the main entrance to the base. Two large SWAT bots were standing guard outside the door and saw the human walk up to him and present his invitation to them. One of the robots scanned the card with a red laser beam and once it was confirmed to be valid, it granted him clearance.

The huge metal doors opened and a large group of Egg pawns made their way around, forming two parallel lines. The master of the base then came to greet the visitor. The younger man then bowed his head. "Greetings Julian."

"Welcome Snively." Came the reply in an intimidating voice. "Rise." Was the next stern command from the master of the fortress.

The smaller human rose and then looked up to his estranged and former uncle. The older man then moved through the base while his 'guest' followed him to the throne room. Eggman then blocked his nephew's view for a moment as he walked up to the throne. That was when Snively heard some whimpering. "G…Greetings… M-Master." A trembling voice responded, while bowing to the human. The visitor was greeted by another surprise; Ivo wasn't alone. A leashed blue hedgehog was sitting on the ground next to the throne, with his legs to one side. His gaze was to the ground, with his ears and quills lowered. His body was mutilated with multiple bruises and scrapes to his body that were slowly healing. Some of the bruises signified a broken bone or a ruptured internal organ. He was quietly whining from the torture that he had to endure. The doctor then sat on the large chair.

Snively's jaw dropped as he instantly recognised exactly who it was. "S-Sir…isn't that-!?"

"Priority One Hedgehog? Leader of the Knothole Freedom Fighters? Why yes it is, Snively." Eggman answered with triumph while holding the hedgehog up higher, for his nephew to see by yanking on the collar. "As you can see, since your last visit, luck has been on my side. I captured him a couple of months ago, tortured him and broke him into nothing more than a common obedient dog that's terrified of punishment." Robotnik then released his grip on the collar, making the blue hedgehog collapse in a slumped heap and then he scrambled back into his original position, whimpering. Snively saw that he had a bit of difficulty over a badly injured leg.

Eggman then noticed that Snively was very impressed over this turnabout. "I must go for now, Snively. Duty calls and all. Your guest room is set up down that hall and take the last left." The large human pointed to the door. "We'll discuss more over dinner." Ivo replied and then rose from his seat. He then delivered a swift kick to the collared hedgehog's side, earning a yelp of pain from him and knocking him over. The blue blur scrambled to his fours whining and trembling from fear. The doctor then grabbed the chain and led Sonic to a door near the throne by tugging the leash. The hedgehog followed obediently with his injured leg in tow, leaving Snively in awe at what his uncle had done.

XXX

As soon as the door closed behind them and their visitor was out of earshot, two sighs of relief could be heard.

"Ok, Sonic? It's all clear!" Ivo announced.

Sonic looked up at the doctor, and then pressed a button on the collar. Within that instant, all the wounds on the hedgehog had vanished.

"It's amazing about what holograms can do." Was the hedgehog's reply as he got up to stand.

"Sorry about that kick. I hope it wasn't too hard." Ivo said while gazing at the blue blur's side.

"No, it's fine. It didn't hurt at all."

"I'll admit, you were a great actor!" The doctor praised.

"Likewise." Sonic replied with a cocky grin. "So, how much longer do we need to keep playing this charade?"

"It's only until Snively leaves in a few days."

Sonic groaned; this was going to be the longest few days of his life.

XXX

*A Few Days Ago:*

"Right. Come here." Eggman commanded sternly, with the stick in his hand.

Sonic was surprised when he saw the stick and backed away, fearing he would get hit. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, Ivo. What's this?" The hedgehog asked, his palms stretched out in a defensive position.

But the scientist didn't answer and instead came closer.

Sonic then started to growl and bare his teeth when he felt the wall pinning him from behind. _'I should never have trusted you! What are you planning to do to me anyway?!'_

Ivo then lifted the stick up higher. Sonic closed his eyes and covered his head with his arms, waiting for the sharp stinging blow of the beating stick.

But it never came.

The hedgehog then let his guard slightly down and looked up towards the human, who was pointing the stick towards one part of the ground. "I need you over here." Was the calm command from the human.

Sonic obediently walked over to said position and stood on the spot. "Now what do you need me for?" The azure hedgehog asked.

"I have someone coming over in a few days, so I'm going to need your help in deceiving him." The doctor explained.

"Oh," Sonic replied with a cocked head. "And who might this person be?"

"My estranged nephew, Snively." Was the scientist's reply.

Sonic's emotions suddenly changed from a calm demeanour to the exact opposite. Even Ivo side-stepped away from the hedgehog once he heard a deep snarl resonating from the blue blur's throat. Sonic hated Snively as much as he had previously loathed Eggman. Snively was far worse than his uncle and had once poisoned the azure hedgehog and turned him against his friends. The acid was rising in the blue blur's throat.

"Sonic?" Ivo asked. "Do you feel OK for this? If not, I could always put you somewhere else."

After a moment, the azure hedgehog spoke. "I'll be fine. Let's do this." He said through a determined look.

XXX

*Sonic's POV:*

"Ok, Sonic, like that!" Ivo said to me.

"I don't understand how practicing a bow is going to save us." I replied through a strained voice; the beating stick was pressing into my right leg, applying pressure and forcing me to bend one knee.

"It's called 'respect', Sonic. Look it up sometime!"

I groaned at this remark.

We were doing this the entire day; from bows to dragging one of my hind legs around as though it was broken.

This was going to be a tough display of pretences in order to trick Snively.

**XXX**

**To be continued…**


	15. The Visitor

Chapter 15: The Visitor

**Hi Everyone. **

**Credit for certain lines belong to Chiisai Kitsune. Thanks!**

**XXX**

*Present Day:*

The base was in full swing and all the worker bots were running around, immersed in their work and chores to be completed over the course of their lifetime until their batteries ran out. Other countless kinds of metallic minions were being created around the clock from the nearby factory to do their master's bidding, from servants to soldiers.

At the dining table, Ivo and Snively were sitting at opposite ends. They were having a conversation over dinner. Sonic was leashed to one of the table's legs beside Eggman; he was hiding in the shadows under the table, expression appearing sad and broken, with his head, eyes, ears and quills lowered. He was still playing the part of his act. Every now and again, his so-called master, Ivo would ask if he was OK through his mind, without gazing down and Sonic would always answer mentally in a far better mood and tone of voice, instead of the raspy, weak voice that he used when calling him master.

"So Uncle, please tell me how you found the hedgehog and how you broke him." Snively asked Ivo; he was intent to hear the entire tale.

"Very well, Snively." Eggman replied as he leant forward on the table, connecting his hands and intertwining his fingers together. "I found him wounded in the forest not too far from here. It made it _so_ _much_ easier to capture him. I kept him locked in a cage in a laboratory and continued torturing and starving him."

"I'd say that starving him has indeed worked, Julian; there's hardly a scrap of meat on him at all." His nephew added while looking at the skinny hedgehog. It was thanks to the hologram on Sonic's neck that prevented Snively from seeing the blue blur's real condition. Ivo decided to feed him _before_ this meeting, in order to fool his nephew into thinking that he was still starving the azure creature.

"True Snively, but what really broke him was when I almost beat him to death with a stick and a whip; that was when he stopped resisting me, surrendered and became more obedient to my commands." The doctor continued with a cold and cruel grin. "Am I right, rodent?" Ivo asked his collared slave in a cruel tone.

"Yes, Master." Sonic replied weakly in a whimpering voice while pretending to cower and tried to make a futile attempt of retreating further under the table.

'_Sonic, get over here.'_ Was the softer tone of voice playing through the hedgehog's mind.

The cobalt slave then crawled over, wincing in pain, as he moved over closer to the doctor and pressed his forehead to his captor's leg and whined in a pleading tone. Eggman then reached down with a hand and started to massage the hedgehog's scruff.

"I must admit, you did a wonderful job, Sir; those scars on that worthless creature's hide are proof of your despicable acts." Snively complemented on the scientist's work.

"Thank you, Snively. However, you still haven't informed me about why you are here." Ivo stated.

The other human leaned into the table. "It's about our last meeting, Uncle. You had already stated to me that you were intending to retire from your heinous ways…"

Ivo immediately felt Sonic shift a little upon hearing this. So he gave his nape a small pinch to control him, but he could already see his blue tail start to wag a little.

"…and I was hoping to take over and build the empire in your place."

"Yes Snively, but I've changed my mind on that matter. With Sonic on my side, I'll take over the entire world."

"I see…" His nephew nodded. "But as I'm hoping to expand my section of the empire, I was hoping to gain control of the entire Egg-Legion army, including the ones you control."

"I'm afraid that I'm going to have to decline on that offer, Snively. Lien-Da has been quite… difficult lately and I don't believe that she'll change her mind on the allegiance of her group so easily. I'm sure that you know how difficult ladies can be yourself, speaking of which, how's Regina?"

Snively mood suddenly changed upon hearing his girlfriend's name. "She's doing fine; in fact we're intending to marry in a few months. We were also deciding on…"

'_Oh, brother, why the heck did I have to bring that up?'_ Eggman groaned mentally while face palming and ignoring the rest of his nephew's blithering love speech.

'_I think I'm gonna hurl…'_ A cocky voice replied beside him.

'_Let's go. I don't think I want to hear the rest of this.'_ The doctor stated while shuddering and reaching for the leash.

'_Likewise. Right behind you!'_ Sonic replied while still pretending to drag his injured leg.

They were about to reach the door when…

"Hey! Where are you going, Uncle? I still have more to discuss."

Sonic and Ivo exchanged a glance for a second while deciding on what to do.

"I must return to my chambers for now, Snively. We'll discuss about it more tomorrow." Eggman politely replied as the two left.

"Very well, Sir." Snively muttered with a displeased look.

XXX

"You're retiring?!" Sonic shouted once the two were alone. His tail was wagging frantically and he didn't even bother trying to hide it. This was the best news he had heard in his entire life. He'd always wonder what life would be like after he had finally defeated Eggman. And now, he was finally getting his wish.

"I was going to tell you soon, Sonic; I just thought that now wasn't the best time." Eggman replied.

"Why the sudden idea?" The hedgehog asked.

"I've been planning to for months. I've realized something important, Sonic: 'Life's too short'."

As the two were chatting, they headed towards another private room.

XXX

"Oh, boy," Sonic groaned as he flopped down onto an armchair, "Only one day down and more to go. I don't know how much more I can stand of Snively."

"Look on the bright side; you're not the one that put up with him for half your life, day in and day out."

"You got a point there." The azure hedgehog replied with a smirk. "Just explain to me why we're in _your_ bedroom, behind a locked door? Are you scared or something?" Sonic teased.

"It's not just for my safety, but for yours as well. Like me, Snively doesn't take 'no' for an answer, and because I rejected his offer, it means we'll have to be careful. That's why you're staying here for a few nights."

Sonic scoffed. "Aww, I'm touched! Just one inch away from death? What else is new?" He replied sarcastically. "Just don't even think about shoving me into that small cage in the corner, or you'll find out that Snively and I have something in common." He threatened while pointing to the jail.

"I didn't have that in mind. You can sleep on the roof." It's a mild night and I'm sure it's something that you can handle." Ivo then remarked in an attempt to vex the hedgehog.

"Fine." Sonic replied before jumping out onto the window ledge and climbing up to the roof-top.

XXX

Eggman awoke to a beautiful, bright morning. As he got up, he noticed that Sonic was sleeping in the open cage close by. The doctor guessed that the hedgehog came in during the night to escape the cold. He was about to leave the room, when suddenly –

"Sir, Sir!" A frantic, worried voice came from outside the bedroom door. A loud banging noise followed.

Ivo groaned. _'Not that nuisance,'_ and opened the door. The screams and bangs had also awoken the blue blur. "What is it, Snively?" The doctor grumbled, still half asleep. He was then taken aback at what he saw. His nephew was standing in the doorway, holding his last six remaining hairs in his hands.

"It's the hedgehog, Sir! He's escaped and came into my room last night. Oh, look what he did to my hair!" The smaller man screamed while showing the strands to the doctor.

The larger man raised an eyebrow at this. "Escaped?! What are you talking about?! He's right here!" Ivo stated as he showed his nephew the hedgehog in the now sealed enclosure in his room.

"B-b-but…I…he…he was there! I saw him leave my room!" Snively shouted; he sounded desperate to be believed.

Ivo placed a hand on his shoulder. "There's no shame in losing your hair, nephew; bald is beautiful after all! I believe that it was from stress. I also think that all you saw was a bird's shadow, flying by your window and a cool breeze entering your room. You've come a long way, nephew. Perhaps you're still exhausted." The doctor explained.

Eggman then believed that he had heard a small snort from behind him at this.

"But…but…y-yes sir." The smaller guest muttered in defeat, not daring to disagree with his uncle; he would never win this fight anyway; he knew that from past experience.

The younger man then closed the door, while muttering and casting death glances at the caged hedgehog in the corner, up until the last moment. Sonic had to resist the urge to give even the tiniest hint of smug little grin.

XXX

True, the hedgehog _had_ indeed paid the guest a visit during the night. He was looking for a thrill and what better way than to sneak into the guest room. He navigated across the rooftop and leapt through the open window of the guest room. Once he saw the human sleeping in the bed, a sinister grin crept onto his face. The blue blur decided to get rid of the human's last remaining hairs; his pride for the fact that he wasn't as bald as his uncle. Sonic quietly crawled across the ground in order to avoid any creeks and cracks on the floor that could injure or trip him, ensuring that the human would wake up, and made his way into the bathroom and grabbed a pair of scissors.

XXX

As soon as the door united with the frame once again, Sonic unlatched the cage door and got out. The blue hedgehog's amusement, however, was cut abruptly short as his so-called master grabbed him by the scruff. "Hold it!" The doctor said with a stern voice and then brought his catch face-to-face. "Owww! Hey!" Sonic yelped. "Is something wrong?" The hedgehog managed to add in a curious tone.

"Did you really think that I wouldn't suspect a thing?" The doctor questioned his captive with a frown. "Do you consider me blind and deaf, Sonic? I knew immediately that it was you and not a robot that performed this naughty little act. Your behaviour is absolutely unacceptable!" Eggman scolded angrily. The azure creature lowered his ears at this and averted his gaze, as he couldn't meet Ivo's anymore, while he was being disciplined shamefully like a pup.

"It…" Ivo said sternly through his gritted teeth, while raising a clenched fist. "It…" The doctor repeated; seemingly lost for words. Eggman then lowered his head for a second, before raising it and supporting a huge grin. "It reminds me of myself when I was younger!" The doctor chuckled while rubbing the hedgehog's head with his free hand. He then placed Sonic back on the ground. Sonic was also supporting a smile because he was thankfully off the hook. "Now, I assume that there will be no more mischief making?" The human asked.

"No, Ivo. You have my word!" Sonic replied, not letting the grin leave his face.

XXX

*Later on:*

Eggman decided to take Sonic outside for a walk to get some fresh air. Snively decided to accompany them. He was getting suspicious, however on how the hedgehog was walking on two legs again and there wasn't a scratch on him. When he asked his uncle, Eggman explained that he had Sonic partially robotized over the night, otherwise he would have died. He then added that he wanted to prolong his enemy's suffering.

The grass inside the perimeter fence smelled fresh over the small rain shower during the morning. It filled Sonic's senses, but he still maintained his broken appearance as he walked behind the taller human, all while being leashed.

"Sir, I'd like to walk your prisoner." The visitor announced.

Eggman froze at this, deciding on the next course of action. Snively was pushing it. He then heard a small pleading voice in his head. _'Don't do it. Please don't-'_

"Very well. Here you go, Snively." The doctor replied while giving the younger man the leash.

'_You know, I really hate you, Egghead.'_

'_It's only to keep up pretences, Sonic… and just for a little while.'_

Snively was even rougher with Sonic as he tugged the leash forwards and backwards, making the hedgehog gag every now and again from the sudden twists and tightening of the collar. Eggman saw this and warned his nephew, "He's my property, Snively; Only _I _am allowed to hurt him when necessary. I'll take the leash back now"

His nephew then mumbled something inaudible. He then walked to the doctor, but was still a few meters away. He then released his grip on the leash's loop and it fell to the ground with a small thud. Sonic then looked down to the leash with wide emerald eyes; he was free, he could've left this fortress for good within a millisecond, as he was right beside the gate and out of range of the two humans; a simple leap over the barrier would have been a breeze.

The only problem was…he didn't want to leave, he couldn't; his body wouldn't listen. One part commanded him to run far away from here and another larger part compelled him to stay.

Ivo just watched him, expression unchanged. But Sonic could hear his mind. _'Sonic, please don't leave…'_ The doctor said.

The hedgehog could've sworn that Ivo's tone was pleading.

'_Don't worry, Ivo. I'm not leaving. You can't get rid of me that easily.'_ Sonic replied, mentally smirking at that last remark. The blue blur then sighed softly and bent down, reaching for the noose and picked it up. He then made his way over to his master and presented the handle to Ivo. The human voluntarily took it with his scarred right hand and then Sonic stood by his side, the human was filled with vanity over the hedgehog's actions; he had expected the exact opposite to happen. They then turned towards Snively. "As you can see, I have indeed broken him. Any attempt to escape will result in death. All it takes is time and punishment, lots of punishment." Eggman replied with a smile. They then rounded the fortress and returned indoors.

XXX

*That Evening:*

Sonic and the doctor were back inside Ivo's room, discussing what happened earlier. The scientist was thanking the blue blur over his recent action and that hopefully Snively would leave in a few days. Sonic was exhausted over the last few days, from being pushed to his limits and wanted nothing else, but to sleep soon.

"Thanks so much, Sonic. I'm extremely grateful."

"Heh, no problem." The azure pincushion replied, but then he had to ask something else. "By the way, it sounded to me as though you really didn't want me to leave earlier."

It took Eggman a moment to find the right words. "I've just gotten so used to having you around, Sonic. As a companion, of course. I'm just not ready to see you leave, at least not yet."

"Leave?" Sonic asked. "How? I thought this thing will shock me the moment I'm outside the fence." He replied while pointing at the collar.

The doctor chuckled at this. "How often have I lied before we became friends, Hedgehog?"

"Too many times." The blue blur answered before realizing something. "Wait a minute…are you telling me that it was all a hoax?" He asked with a tilted head.

"Would you have still believed me if I had said 'yes'?" Eggman replied with a smirk.

Sonic groaned at this and fell onto one side of the bed; he couldn't believe it. "And what do you mean 'not yet' anyway?"

"I intend to depart to a different fortress in a few weeks; I don't want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere for the entire year and I'm certainly not leaving you here to fend for yourself. That's why I'm letting you go after all this is over; consider it a reward for helping to fool my nephew. If you want to come with me however, I won't mind, but if you want to leave, I won't stop you, either and I'll send you back to your forest soon." Ivo replied.

Eggman then lay down on one side of the bed, reading a book.

Sonic didn't say anything for a few minutes. He was surprised over this change. He could actually go back home soon and see his friends. It had been such a long time.

A thunder clap suddenly resonated through the room and then the rain came down heavily onto the glass window, making a continuous tic-tic noise.

"Looks like you're not going onto the roof tonight." The scientist stated and then put his book away, intending to go to bed.

Sonic groaned at this statement; he then however, pulled out a sleeping bag from a cupboard and unfolded it across the ground. He then got ready to sleep. He didn't fall asleep immediately; instead, he was thinking of something with his controlled and unheard thoughts.

'_What am I doing? I could've left, and yet, something is telling me to stay. I like being here with Eggman, but am I just developing Stockholm syndrome or something because I was kidnapped and the doctor showed me kindness? The war my uncle mentioned is coming and I'm going to need all the help I can get. I might even need Ivo's help with that training and learning some new moves. Should I just leave and return to Knothole?'_ Sonic thought.

Ivo meanwhile was also thinking of what Sonic would do next.

'_I can't believe that I just admitted that I like having Sonic around. Sure we've had our ups and downs, but we've worked together before to accomplish some great feats. Even though I used to want to get rid of him, I never really meant any malicious harm. That blue fur ball might be a pain at times, but he's kind of fun to be around, something different for a change.'_ Ivo thought. _'Still, I know I can't keep him here forever; he'll still get homesick. It's best that I let him go soon. We've had a great time that I won't so easily forget.'_

XXX

*A few days later:*

Over the next few days, Sonic and Ivo worked extremely hard to keep up their pretence to trick Snively. Eggman had done everything from pretending to beat up the hedgehog, to locking him in dungeons and surgery rooms in order to make it appear interesting to his nephew. On one occasion, Sonic was commanded to fight 100 robots in a special room, where his Chaos energy was continuously drained out of him.

Snively and Robotnik watched from a balcony above. The smaller human was in awe at the sight; the hedgehog clearly looked much weaker after he had managed to defeat a few robots.

Snively chuckled manically in amusement. "I wonder how much longer that rodent can go."

"Not for too long, Snively. Those panels on the floor drain a sufficient amount of energy from the one that steps on it. Chaos energy is more powerful when extracted rapidly like this. I believe it'll only take a few more steps before he falls." Eggman replied in an act of gloating.

It was all a lie however; Sonic was fine and enjoying the fight. His mind was amused, but he didn't let it show on the outside. He continued to stumble and stagger clumsily around the metal floor. After a few minutes, his expression looked terrified and his movements became more sluggish as he looked weaker than before. "Aaaah! Master, please! Let me out! I beg of you-!" The blue blur pleaded in a frightened tone of voice and then continued to desperately fight off the metallic minions.

After he beat a few more robots, he decided to collapse in a heap of limbs and quills. He remained motionless, until a medic bot entered the scene and dragged him off to the lab to be healed.

"Looks like he's had enough for today and the results are impressive; he lasted longer than the week before." Ivo replied as he looked at a monitor.

They then left the facility. As they walked past a few clinic rooms, Snively noticed that one of them was occupied by the blue blur. He was currently lying unconscious on an operating table, while some robotic arms tended to his wounds.

Once Snively was gone and the robotic limbs ceased their movements, Sonic opened his eyes, unlocked the metallic cuffs and headed back to Eggman's room.

XXX

Sonic woke up early in the morning and had decided to stretch his legs around the fortress. He decided to stay indoors, so that he wouldn't be seen by Snively from a window. He raced around the fortress, taking notes of how the base's security was top notch. He then made his way down some corridors. He didn't even notice how many turns he had made, until he came to a sharp corner and rounded it. He was suddenly intercepted by a strong grip, which slammed his back against a wall. "What the-?!" The blue blur could only gasp in pain and then he was met with his adversary.

"Listen hedgehog," the small man hissed while pinning him to the wall. "I don't know what kind of game you and my idiot uncle are playing, but it's clear to me that you're not broken, especially after what you did to my precious hair!"

"If you ask me, Snyvley, it's an improvement!" Sonic retorted, while mocking the smaller man by deliberately mispronouncing his name. "Guess now you're name is Baldy Junior!" Sonic started to laugh.

The man countered this by pressing a hand onto the hedgehog's throat. Sonic responded to this by a mental screech of pain.

The human growled. "That's enough, rat!" Snively continued. "What did he do to you and why aren't you leaving at the first opportunity?" He then released his tight grip and the blue blur gave a few coughs and gasps for breath.

The cerulean hedgehog finally spoke in a strained voice once he had recovered. "He broke me in a very different way and that's why I'm not leaving."

Snively didn't say anything to the reply. Instead he looked at the hedgehog's face and suddenly, everything made sense. "Oh…" The guest chuckled. "I see what's going on. You like him, don't you?"

Sonic thought back to the time when Eggman rescued him from death, up till now. It was Sonic's turn to chuckle; Snively had it all wrong. The blue hedgehog only liked Ivo as a friend and nothing more. He then replied with a confident look. "I like him in a manner of respect."

"Well then, we'll see how far that 'respect' goes, soon enough, won't we?" The human calmly replied before releasing Sonic completely. The blue hedgehog collapsed to the ground.

Sonic got up and then let the words sink in. But what did Snively mean by that? He didn't have to think for long as the smaller human slapped him across the cheek. It was enough to send Sonic reeling and he felt sick after it.

The blue blur's body quivered. He lowered his head. _'This is bad, really bad.'_ Sonic thought to himself. He knew that the sickening feeling inside of him would bring out his dark form. All the anger and illness brewing inside his body would soon bring out Dark Sonic. If Snively irritated and provoked him too much, he would lose control._ 'Ok Sonic, calm down, just calm down.'_ Sonic thought to himself, taking deep breaths. _'But I'm so mad! How dare he threaten me…and it's an even worse mistake to threaten my friends.'_ Sonic mentally growled at that and clenched his fists tighter.

"You know he's only keeping you as his pet and lab rat, don't you? Why not join me and together, we'll destroy my idiot uncle."

Sonic didn't answer because he couldn't hear anything except for his heart beating like a drum in his ears. He knew he couldn't control it anymore and was about to put the visitor out of his misery.

When something suddenly stopped him.

He felt something gently grip his right hand and move it around the corner from where he had come from.

'_Take it easy, Sonic…'_ A soft voice advised him.

'_That voice…Eggman?'_

'_You can't let this happen. If you change, we're done for. I need you to calm down and breathe slowly in and out.'_

The azure hedgehog heeded Ivo's command and started to inhale slowly and deeply. He followed it with an exhale. Soon, he felt himself returning to normal; Dark Sonic was once again caged inside of him.

Sonic was surprised that it actually worked. He was never able to control himself when he went that far before. But he had to admit that he was starting to feel better when Ivo was around.

'_Feeling better?'_

'_Yeah…thanks.'_

When the doctor was reassured that the blue blur was back to normal, he left before the visitor saw him. He had heard Sonic's cry for help and went looking for him. He had just arrived right before Sonic was about to lose control. He didn't hear anything during the conversion.

Sonic returned to Snively's gaze.

"I refuse." The hedgehog answered with supreme confidence.

"So be it." The small human snarled. "But you will soon learn about what happens to people who oppose me." He then left Sonic alone and headed for his room.

XXX

*The next day:*

"I must be off, Sir. Regina probably misses me by now." Snively stated when his plane had returned after a few days.

"Very well, Snively. We'll discuss more at the next session in a few months' time." Eggman replied.

"Looking forward to it, Uncle. I will also hopefully send you an invite to the wedding soon."

"I won't be looking forward to that, Snively…" The doctor muttered under his breath.

"What was that, Sir?"

"I said I'll be looking forward to it!" The older human recovered in a merrier tone, so as to not give away any suspicion.

"Good! Perhaps you could also bring along your pet, if he survives that long, that is." The guest said while gazing down at the leashed blue hedgehog.

Sonic had to do everything in his power to resist the urge to growl. "Yes, we'll see about that." Ivo calmly declared. "Have a nice trip, Snively!" He then replied cheerfully as the door closed.

XXX

The two residents then breathed long sighs of relief, and headed to the scientist's office once their visitor had departed. "Good riddance!" Sonic said as Ivo removed the leash from his collar.

"Thank you for the assistance, Sonic. As a reward, I'll send you back to Knothole in about a week or two once I've finished my work here."

The blue blur was about to reply when one of Eggman's bots came in holding a strange orb in its clutches. "Doctor, this was found in the guest room." The robot stated in a monotone voice. Ivo took it out of his minion's hand and examined it. Sonic was beside him, eyeing it carefully also; if it belonged to Snively and he left it behind deliberately, then it could be potentially dangerous. The human then pressed a button on it and heard a ticking noise emitting from within the orb. He became nervous, fearing that it was a bomb, so he threw it away as far as he could across the room. The ball exploded on impact with the hard ground and scattered many darts around the room. It would've hit everything in the room. Ivo made an attempt to protect himself by turning his back to the barbs, but he knew that it was already too late. He then heard someone groaning from the pain behind him. _'Please no…not him again.'_ The human thought, after getting a sense of déjà vu all over again. He then felt a sharp pain in his leg and went down to his knees. He used his hands to support himself and decided to look at the wounded area. A barb, as long as Sonic's quills was jutting out from his leg. He managed to pull it out, but not without wincing and grunting at the pain. He then saw Sonic groaning in pain as he attempted to pull out one of the many barbs that were now embedded into his skin.

The human then realized that he was starting to get dizzy and his sight was getting blurry. This was certainly not a good sign. Sonic reached for a barb in his arm and ripped it out. He then fell onto his hands and knees and the doctor could see many darts sticking out from his back. The blue hedgehog then started sweating and shaking uncontrollably. "I…I think it's… poisoned." Sonic said.

Ivo tried to get up to help the blue hedgehog, but found that his legs were numbed from the toxin. He was suddenly engulfed in a terrible pain. "Sonic…" Eggman groaned. "There's a grey box with antidotes in my desk drawer. Please, retrieve it for me." He instructed while pointing to his desk.

Sonic did as he was told. He started to walk over, using his hands to support him along the walls, but then he collapsed onto his hands and knees when his legs also became numb, due to the poison. That didn't stop him, however, as he started to crawl over with all his strength.

He was soon making his way back over to Ivo, who was now writhing in agony; the poison affected them differently. Sonic was panting hard, trying to get enough air into his lungs as the doctor typed a code onto the box's control panel. As soon as the crate was unlocked, Sonic and Ivo both lifted the lid with a hand each, on either side…

Only to stare in disbelief at the precious cargo…

There was only one antidote left.

XXX

Sonic and Ivo were both exchanging glances for several moments, waiting for the other to use it, before the full effects of the poison had taken over.

Sonic was now struggling to breathe; squirming in pain and discomfort at the sensation, gasping for air now and he could feel his heart thumping against his chest, feeling as if at any moment it would leave his chest. He could've easily swiped the injection, cured himself and left the base without stopping. But he didn't do that. Instead he kicked the box towards Ivo and left it at that. He had already made his choice; Sonic was a hero until the end, always putting his friends before himself, without a second thought.

The doctor then gazed down at the box and suddenly pushed it back towards the hedgehog, refusing to take the antidote. The blue blur then looked over to the doctor and noticed the pained expression on his face; he was in a far worse condition than Sonic. The blue furred pincushion couldn't take it anymore. He removed the syringe from the crate, crawled closer to where Eggman was and prepared it.

"Sorry about this." Sonic said.

He then drove the needle into Ivo's arm.

As soon as he was done, Sonic removed the shot and collapsed onto his side.

The doctor then got up, feeling a bit better from the antidote and went to check on the blue blur, who was shaking badly from the poison's effects.

"Ironic isn't it?" Sonic groaned, wincing from the pain. "Sonic the Hedgehog…killed by a little poison…Heh…and not one of your giant killer robots." He then chuckled weakly.

"Stop talking like that! You'll be fine." Ivo said while removing a barb from the hedgehog's skin.

"What kind of poison is it, anyway?" Sonic questioned.

"Let me have it analysed. Just hang in there." The doctor replied and took the sample for an examination by using some advanced equipment on his desk.

The scientist then returned with the verdict. "From these results, it appears to be puff adder venom from the Adabat region. I'm so sorry, Sonic; I don't have the antivenin to cure it."

Sonic placed his cheek to the cold metal floor, awaiting death to take him. He then replayed Ivo's words again in his mind…

And realized something important.

"Wait a minute…Did you say puff adder from Adabat?" The blue blur asked, suddenly filled with hope.

"Indeed, I did." Was the reply. "Why?"

"Heh…Heh, heh…" The hedgehog started to chuckle for no reason.

"Sonic?" Eggman asked.

"Heh, heh ha ha ha ha!" Sonic started laughing uncontrollably.

"Sonic…" The human said sternly. "This is not the right time to be laughing, even at your own death."

"No, you don't understand…everything is fine. I'm immune to that snake venom." The azure hedgehog replied.

"So that means…"

"I'll be just fine…" Sonic then finished. He then tried to get up, but found that he couldn't. Instead, he just made himself as comfortable as he could on the cold metal flooring that populated the majority of the stronghold that he now called 'home'. "Just let me sleep here for a little while; at least until I purge this poison." Sonic then took one deep sigh and closed his eyes for a while.

Ivo managed to move him to a couch by wrapping him in a blanket, in order to avoid what he now hoped to Chaos wasn't toxic running through the interior of the hedgehog's sharp, hollow quills. One little prick and it could be all over. The doctor then proceeded to remove all the empty darts that were still embedded into the hedgehog's back. He noticed that Sonic didn't even flinch or shift as the barbed needle was extracted from each location and then assumed that the blue blur had succumbed to a torpid-like state, similar to hibernation. Once he had completed his task, he decided to leave the poor, spiky pincushion alone. The doctor decided to take up residence in one of the several armchairs that dwelled in his office in order to maintain vigilance on the hedgehog. Ivo, however, soon drifted off to sleep.

XXX

The human woke up with a start and realized that he had fallen asleep unintentionally. He then gazed up at the clock and found out that he was asleep for 2 hours. He cursed himself for drifting off, and then remembered why he was here in the first place. He then looked over to the couch and saw that there was no one else there anymore, just the crumpled up blanket, half of it was on the floor. _'Grr…Sonic…'_ Eggman then got up and inspected the area. He suddenly got another vision, similar to the one in winter.

The first thing he heard was music blaring. He then saw two peach arms stretched in front of himself, preparing to grab onto a long, horizontal metal bar. The limbs managed to latch on and he managed to perform a flip in the air before grabbing onto the next one. He grabbed on and then pulled himself up onto the second bar, so that he was standing on it and took a look around. The doctor noticed that he was now in his gym, but he also knew that he never left the office yet. It was as though he was seeing through someone else's eyes at the moment. The form then landed on the ground in a crouched position near the exit door. It suddenly opened, revealing Metal Sonic on the other side.

The vision then ended and Ivo found himself back in his office. He had to find Sonic, and fast before he was torn to pieces.

**XXX**

**To be continued…**


	16. The Tournament

Chapter 16: The Tournament

**To ****Lordoftheghostking28**** and ****Ondori-Naramaki**** : thanks for the ideas guys! **

**To the people who posted questions in reviews for my previous chapter, I'll try to explain the made up information that I added, inside this chapter, but most of the facts for Sonic are on sites such as Wiki. So, credit goes to them who took the time to do this.**

**Certain lines or scenes belong to ****pantedgieQueen13**** and ****Chiisai Kitsune****. Credit goes to them. Thanks guys!**

**Please enjoy!**

**XXX**

Eggman made it to the gym and entered, fearing the worst outcome for the blue blur. He opened the doors, expecting to see blood splattered on every wall and a limp, unrecognisable, torn-up form in the middle of the floor. He saw Sonic running around the room, avoiding Metal's sharp claws that were thankfully only swiping the air as the azure hedgehog successfully dodged each and every one of them in a zigzag pattern. He then jumped into the air and grabbed onto a metal pole, swung in a full circle once and released his grip on it in order to grab onto the next one in time, just as Metal swiped at the previous pole that the blue blur had used, slicing it into pieces with its claws. Ivo was impressed to see Sonic the Hedgehog like this; just a few hours ago, he was at Death's door and he was already back to his old, confident self. The doctor also saw how vigorous and muscular the hedgehog appeared to be. He was back to his prime, peak condition of fitness and health. The only real difference was the scars on his shoulder. But he also looked very different in appearance; it was though he had matured in just a few weeks into an even stronger, wiser hedgehog.

Metal knew that it was losing the fight that it had started. The blue metallic minion was envious of Sonic replacing it as second in command and authority around here and desired to eradicate its organic copy. It changed its course and decided to use the jet engine it was installed with to boost towards its intended target. It succeeded in tacking the blue hero to the ground but it didn't stop there. The robotic replica then picked up the azure creature, spun him around once and threw him with such force towards a wall. Sonic hit the wall head first and went right through it. A huge plume of dust and smoke covered the entire area. Eggman gasped at the massive hole in the wall once the dust cleared, but he was more concerned about the blue blur as he couldn't see him. He walked closer towards the hollow. "Sonic, are you ok?" He asked looking inside. In that instant, said blue hedgehog appeared out of the wreckage, panting hard. A small stream of blood was flowing from his forehead. His eyes were fixed on Metal. "Sonic?" Ivo asked again. Something was wrong. Either the blue blur wasn't listening, or else he couldn't hear the scientist.

XXX

*Sonic's POV:*

I had decided to come to Ivo's gym in order to start my training in order to become a Soul Keeper, like my Uncle mentioned in my dreams. The first thing I was going to work on was my upper body strength, which was a little weaker than my speed. Physical strength tires me out faster than running. I started by doing pull ups on the horizontal metal bars nearby and continued to do flips and other acrobatic tricks on them. I was about to finish when Metal came in and challenged me to a fight. It was so easy to dodge the attacks, although I didn't react quickly enough to the tackle that it then performed. It grabbed my arm and threw me across the gym into a wall. I then blacked out, until I heard someone calling me. I got up, but I couldn't hear anything after that, just my heart beating like a drum in my ears. All I could smell was blood and all I could see was Metal Sonic in front of me. I can't remember anything that happened next. All I remember next is waking up on a gym mat.

XXX

*Eggman's POV:* 

Sonic wasn't listening to me. I kept calling his name but he didn't even respond. His emerald eyes were fixed on Metal and he was panting hard.

Then I saw something that I wouldn't easily forget. Sonic's breathing started to sharpen and it sounded as though he was also growling with a look of rage on his face. That was when I saw his eyes turn blue. Then with the speed that I knew, he blasted past me in a strong gust of wind and headed right for Metal. He ran straight at him with no indication or intention of stepping to the side. He curled into a ball and started spinning towards the robot, his quills came out and Sonic started to spin like an axial blade. He went right through him like a gust of wind, but for some reason, he couldn't stop it and ended up hitting the opposite wall and landing on a gym mat on the ground, motionless. Meanwhile Metal Sonic was still frozen in place; it hadn't moved an inch. Suddenly the fingers on one of its hands broke off and fell to the ground in several smaller pieces. The rest of the body followed seconds after. By the time Metal had fallen, it was unrecognisable after being broken into thousands of tiny pieces; it would be quite some time before it'd be back in one piece. I then went to check on Sonic.

XXX

*Normal POV:*

"Wha-what happened?" Sonic groaned. "And why does my head hurt?" He added as he felt the pain coursing through his body and reached up with a gloved hand to massage his left temple.

"Sonic, are you ok? That was quite unexpected; I've never seen anything like that from you before." Eggman asked as he bridged the distance between them.

"Yeah, I'm fine; I just need a little water." The blue hedgehog then got up and walked over to a table to get some water.

"What were you doing here?" Eggman asked. "Just a few hours ago, you looked as though you were at Death's Door and you're already back to your annoying old self."

"Well, for one, I got better. And I thought that I'd start training right away." Sonic smirked.

"And your stubborn old self…" The doctor added. He then commanded Bocoe and Decoe to pick up Metal Sonic's pieces and get him repaired.

XXX

There was a thunderstorm brewing up outside. Eggman had gotten all his worker bots in and sealed the fortress. He was now telling Sonic what he saw.

"So that's what happened?! Guess I was just frantic and angry." Sonic replied as he flicked an ear and scratched behind his head, embarrassed on how to explain the situation. "And sorry about Metal; I got bored and broke your robot!" The blue hedgehog chuckled nervously.

"It's ok; Metal needed new service maintenance anyway. Perhaps with a little more training, you'd be able to master that skill; it could be extremely useful in the future." Ivo suggested.

"I think you're –"Sonic didn't complete his sentence as a lightning bolt hit the base and the entire fortress lost all its power. Everything was black and Sonic couldn't see a thing. Ivo then drew out a flashlight.

"I wasn't expecting that to happen of all times." The doctor stated with surprise, while accidently shining the light in the hedgehog's face, making him cringe.

"Don't you have a backup or something?" The blue blur asked once he'd recovered from the bright light.

"It should have come on by now, but I think it's also blown."

"Great(!)" Sonic replied sarcastically. "Now how are we going to get the power back?"

The scientist looked around, while trying to think of what to use. That was when he had an idea. "Where there's a will, there's a way. Come on."

XXX

"**Power output at 50%"**

"*Pant, pant*." _'I wish I had a ring…' _

Eggman came up with a plan to power up his base. It mostly involved Sonic's speed and Chaos energy to power up the generator as he ran on a treadmill connected to it. At least it was harmless compared to the last time.

The blue hedgehog had finally agreed to do this once the doctor had upped his persuasion into the form of several hundred chilidogs.

This, however, was taking forever to do and Sonic was starting to tire from his exertion. The doctor noticed this and went to the other side of the room, searching for something. He soon returned with something shiny and gave it to Sonic. It was a small gold power ring. The blue hedgehog was filled with its energy and started to glow brighter. After a few seconds, he was running in the form of a blur.

"**Power output at 200%"**

"Well how about that." The doctor smirked; he knew that ring would come in handy one day.

"**Power output at maximum capacity."**

As soon as the computer announced this, the hedgehog stopped running and dismounted the machine.

"Alright, Ivo, where's the deal?" He asked in a cocky voice, while folding his arms and tapping one of his shoes, waiting for the answer.

"Oh alright. The cooker bots will make you some." Eggman groaned.

Sonic then gave a hint of a smile and zipped off.

The human shook his head and then began to follow him up the stairs.

"Wait, Doctor…" a weak, husky voice called.

Said doctor turned around to see who had acknowledged him. His sight fell on something near some ancient, dusty and unused machinery. The form limped out into full view and headed towards the human, who gasped at the sight.

"You?!"

The newcomer didn't reply and instead collapsed in front of Ivo. The human managed to catch him before he fell to the ground.

XXX

Sonic was happily munching on a batch of chilidogs in the kitchen, content to have this as his reward. As soon as he swallowed the last one whole, Eggman summoned him into the living room. Sonic felt as though something was wrong, very wrong. It even felt as though the atmosphere had gone bad. The blue hedgehog left the kitchen and walked in, unsure of what to expect. He noticed the doctor standing beside the couch, looking down at it. A trail of blood was on the carpet, leading from the generator room to here. Sonic's vision was blocked by the head board part so he came around to the other side. He gasped at the figure lying on the couch.

Its form was partially curled up, but that didn't conceal the major gunshot wound on his leg, the huge gash on his right shoulder, or the cuts, scratches and bruises that played here and there on his entire body.

"How did this happen?!" Sonic asked, both from the shock of seeing the Ultimate Lifeform like this, and also from seeing an old ally and rival here of all places.

"He teleported here without the use of a Chaos emerald." Eggman replied. "That would be a lot harder to do, even for Shadow. I'm going to take him to my lab to see what I can get done." Ivo added.

'_That explains the strange feeling; it was more raw Chaos energy entering the vicinity.'_ Sonic thought to himself.

"Yeah, you do that…" The blue blur stated, suddenly being reminded about what happened to him a few months ago.

XXX

Sonic got tired of waiting; it had already been an hour and he was on edge. One from waiting and two, from restless leg syndrome. The human had already reassured him that everything was fine, but he thought of asking Eggman how it was going in there, but then reconsidered, in case he startled the doctor and caused his scalpel to slip deeper into Shadow's flesh. Instead, to work off the tension, he decided to go for a walk around the base. Thankfully, none of the bots stopped him or got in his way and it was probably thanks to the new chip that Ivo had installed into his collar. He had already mentioned it as important because it made him second in command when the doctor was away.

As the blue hedgehog thought about this, he didn't realize that he was passing Eggman's private office. Sonic had only been in there once and other than that, it was locked at all times, but it suddenly opened as it sensed the chip. The azure hero was hesitant at first, but he then chose to take a glance inside.

It was just how he had remembered it; red carpet, large windows, a desk, bookshelves and books galore. Sonic smelled the sweet scent of the leather books, relished it and decided to investigate the doctor's study/office. He circled the perimeter of the room, taking everything in. Most of the books there were about what Eggman was interested in, robotics, mechanics and machinery. These seemed to fill up the entire room, until Sonic stumbled on a book on biology. He then looked up to the higher shelves and noticed the contents of the books above contained several different subjects. While he was walking around and looking up, he forgot to look at where he was going and blindly stumbled into a library ladder on wheels. After rubbing the slight bump on his head, he grabbed the ladder, positioned it for his destination and proceeded to ascend the rungs. The higher shelved books were also the more interesting and advanced; with several of them regarding advanced biology and human anatomy on the case that the hedgehog climbed. As the blue blur trailed his gloved index finger over the binding and read the titles on the spines, he stumbled on one that appeared to be out of place on that particular shelf due to all of it being about human anatomy. He read the title over and over again to be certain:

_Mobian Anatomy_

"Egghead would certainly be interested in this one." Sonic mused to himself. "After all, he's usually tried to find weaknesses in certain species." He then supported his spiny back against the bookshelf, stabilizing himself, opened the book and proceeded to read. Well, _read_ was an understatement, rather he flicked through it, stopping only when the page fell on a particular species, such as bat, echidna, fox…hedgehog.

He stopped on that one, or rather; he was forced to due to some kind of bookmark keeping it in place. He removed the bookmark and studied the pages. It contained a diagram of some unknown hedgehog and certain parts of the print had been underlined, probably for better study. It read that:

'_Hedgehogs have the ability to control the strength/hardness of their quills; they would be floppy unless threatened when they stood on end and became rigid. When threatened, scared or angry, more blood is pumped into the interior hollow quill chambers in order to make them stand on end, become stiff and sharper for their spike ball defence mechanism.'_

'_Hedgehogs are usually shy animals, but mostly inquisitive in nature.'_

There was nothing new here; Sonic knew everything that had to do with hedgehogs, after all, he was one.

He then studied the bookmark that he held firmly in his hand all this time. It was an envelope. Curiosity won out in the end and he decided to open it. It didn't have any letter or note in there. However, upon slight shaking, the azure hedgehog realized that something else was inside. He turned the envelope upside down and gave it a gentle shake.

A small key fell into the palm of his gloved hand.

"A key? Keys are good…but what does it open?" Sonic questioned as he looked around the room from his high perch. He found no locks or safes on the walls. His gaze then fell on Ivo's study desk. He placed the envelope back into the book and placed that back in its rightful position, so as to not draw attention or suspicion from the doctor later. He descended the ladder and approached the study. Sure enough, there was a large drawer with a lock on it. He placed the key into the lock.

A perfect fit and turned it clockwise. His blue furred triangular ears perked up when he heard the click of the lock disengage. The blue blur then pulled the drawer door open to be met with several papers. Sonic sat on the ground and started digging the sheets out. When he was about halfway through, his hand pressed against a harder material. Sonic was generally inquisitive, so he decided to investigate further. He dug his gloved hands deeper and pulled out a book. He removed the remaining sheets that covered it and stared at the title.

_Project Sonic._

"Oh! So, I'm a project now, am I?!" Said hedgehog grumbled sarcastically, being pissed at this latest discovery. Since it was likely to be about him, however, he decided to take a little peek inside. The pages had plenty of information about him from one to about five years old. The pages after this were blank, probably due to his disappearance for some time. After the next few blank pages, the sheets were then filled again. He was thirteen years old when the data returned. The data kept going from here and it had just about everything on him, including his likes and dislikes. Even body language expressions appeared, down to the last tiny detail of what a flick of an ear or a slight muzzle twitch could signify. Things such as height, weight, skills, techniques learnt and other records appeared on each chapter that represented a year. It was nothing interesting, or anything that Sonic wanted to know about.

It went on and on…eighteen…nineteen…twenty…

Once it hit twenty-one, some things changed. There appeared to be some of Eggman's diary entries mixed in here also. It seemed to almost be a daily occurrence from winter to now.

'_There is reason to believe that Sonic reacts terribly to being held captive and may find it mentally as well as physically painful.'_

'_He appears to act absurd if he doesn't run for a long time, ergo, he is very much addicted to running.'_

'_I once overheard Tails say that if Sonic doesn't get enough sleep (approximately eight hours), it spoils his running, making him sluggish, less alert than usual and slower to react.'_

'_Sonic is immune to snake venom. His body allows him to purge it from his body. When a dangerous chemical is in his blood, contact with the quills must be avoided for several hours or even days otherwise the victim will also be poisoned with the chemical. This also goes for Sonic's canines that can also secrete chemicals, as I've learned. __Note to self: __Further study is necessary to see if this technique can be applied to humans to prevent toxic damage in the body.'_

As Sonic read one of the journal entries during the time of his hibernation, he noticed something strange fall onto his leg. It was a small square sheet of paper that fell out of that particular page. Without thinking, he grabbed it and turned it the right way up, revealing it to be a photo. The blue blur stared it at; his ear tips and muzzle reddened in either embarrassment or anger at this...

For Eggman had taken a cute picture of Sonic while he was asleep.

Sonic scowled. "This better not be on PlaceBook, Eggman."

After a string of colourful and clever curses from the azure hedgehog, he closes the book, cleans up the room and leaves without another word leaving his tanned lips.

XXX

As the blue blur trudged down the hallways, trying to cool his blood, he stumbled upon Orbot and Cubot working on something that involved a box filled with chips.

"Try this one pal." The round robot replied to his friend.

"I 'as a terrible voice now an' I wan' it changed." The yellow bot replied after yet another failed attempt.

"How about this one?" Orbot stated once he fished out another voice chip from the box and had removed the previous one from Cubot.

"Ya'll ar' havin' fun, aren't ya? The bot said in a cowboy tone.

"No, actually; I'm just trying to find the right chip for you." His friend replied.

Sonic decided to see what the fuss was about. "Hey guys, what are you up to?"

The two metal heads were startled and suddenly whipped around. "Ah, greetings, Sonic." Orbot said. "I'm just trying to find the right voice chip for a certain someone who happened to lose his last one." The bot added as he placed yet another one into his partner.

"You talkin' to me?" Cubot said.

Both Sonic and Orbot sighed at this. "Let me give you a hand." Sonic said in a cheery voice.

"Really? That would be great! Thank you!"

After going through the entire box of chips, one after another, they were finally down to just two chips. Orbot picked up one and inserted it into Cubot for the thousandth time. While Sonic picked up the other.

"Hey my voice, it's back again! And I feel just like my old self; all I want to do is talk and talk and talk!" The cube bot chirped happily and practically jumped for joy.

"Now there's the sound that I know and love!" Orbot replied. "Thanks a lot Sonic, here's some rings for your trouble."

"Thanks." Sonic said as the robot handed him a small pouch that was obviously filled with rings. As he walked away, he looked down at the voice chip that he had "borrowed" from the two blunder heads that the doctor called his lackeys. "This is gonna be good." Sonic muttered to himself.

XXX

"Hey you! Get back to work!" Eggman's voice rung throughout the halls. The bots immediately stumbled back to work without glancing back at their master. If they did, however, they'd have noticed that "the doctor" was none other than Sonic the Hedgehog. The voice chip that he took happened to be Ivo's voice and he'd managed to install it into his collar. Right now, he was using this opportunity to cause some mischief.

As he walked into another room, he decided to mock the doctor. "Ahem…I am Doctor Eggman, super genius who intends to rule the world. I, however, have been constantly foiled by a little blue hedgehog…"

"Well, well… what is this?" Another voice said behind him.

Sonic grin suddenly dropped; the voice behind him was the exact same as the chip. "Uh-oh…" He then turned around, but not before pressing the 'voice-off' button. "Ivo! Hi!" The hedgehog said in a cheery voice. He then saw Shadow behind him with not even a scratch on him, which was unusual as wounds never healed that fast, even on the Ultimate Life Form. He then believed that the scientist was hiding something…

"What are you doing?" Eggman asked.

"Helping around." Sonic announced. True, the bots were working twice as hard. "And Shadow! You look great(!)" He added in, regarding the other hedgehog's presence.

A simple grunt was all he got in return. "Nice to see you too, Faker. Nice collar by the way. You the doctor's lapdog or something?"

"Hey!" The blue blur then charged at the dark hedgehog.

"Alright you two, break it up!" Eggman said as he got in the way of the two hedgehogs and prevented any fights from breaking out. "If you want to settle this, why not have a tournament?"

"A tournament?" Sonic questioned.

"Yes, a bunch of competitors compete for prizes and no one gets hurt." Ivo answered.

"I accept" Shadow replied while his arms were folded.

"Ok, then I accept too!" Sonic joined in.

"Great, I'll get you started. It'll take a few minutes to set up. I'll call you when it's ready." The human announced and then proceeded to walk down the hallway to some unknown destination. The two hedgehogs sat down on the sofa for a moment.

"What happened to you?" Sonic asked in curiosity.

"G.U.N. forces were pursuing me in Station Square. A soldier managed to shoot me as I rounded a corner."

"Oh." Sonic said with a hint of sympathy and then added. "And that's why you're still slower than me." He teased.

"Save your breath for the tournament, Faker. Then I'll show you who's faster. Oh, and watch out for the Champion."

"What do you mean?" The blue hedgehog asked in curiosity with a tilted head.

The black hedgehog chuckled. "You'll find out; just don't underestimate him. I lost last time and I definitely won't make that mistake twice."

Sonic was surprised to hear this; only a handful of people could beat Shadow in a fight, Sonic included. The blue hedgehog guessed that who or whatever it was must've been _really _good.

"Anyway, what happened to you?!" The dark hedgehog questioned while pointing down to the blue blur's chest. Sonic followed his movement and noticed he was pointing to the scars.

"Oh, um…it's a long story…"

"We've got some time…"

"Alright…" Sonic then started to tell the Ultimate Life form what happened. He decided to leave out his new powers, since Shadow might think him to be crazy.

"That's astounding, Sonic."

"Yeah, I know…You'd think I would've gone mad in here. I just don't know how you put up with the Eggster for years."

Shadow chuckled. "Years of practice and patience, something that you clearly don't have."

"Hey…" The azure hedgehog growled playfully, taking the last remark as a joke.

Both of them were laughing and chatting for a moment, until Shadow felt a twitch of pain in his side and keeled over, wincing and groaning with the agony he now felt.

Sonic's expression suddenly changed from calm and happy to serious and concerned. In a burst of speed, he caught Shadow before he fell to the ground and assisted him back to the comfortable sofa. "Shadow, are you ok?" The blue hedgehog asked with a tilted head.

"Yeah, I'm fine…I just need to show you something…" The ebony creature replied. "Give me your hand."

Sonic trusted Shadow in a certain way and the blue blur stretched out his hand, but was stopped by a sudden remark.

"You have to remove your glove first, Faker."

Sonic removed his glove and stretched out his peach coloured arm. Shadow did the exact same and took hold of the other hedgehog's arm by the wrist. Sonic followed suit.

"Sonic…I'm sorry about this…" Shadow whispered apologetically and then twisted their linked arms, so that Shadow's red stripped arm was on the bottom and Sonic's fawn furred arm was on top.

"What do you mean?" The blue hedgehog announced confused. It was then that he felt a strange tingling sensation starting at his feet. It felt like pins and needles and it started to spread around his body. "Wha-?!" Sonic said flinching and attempted to move.

"Don't! Don't move…please." Shadow said. Sonic was confused; Shadow sounded really desperate.

Sonic complied with this and ceased his movements, despite the unusual feeling. He then saw something light blue inside his arm moving down towards his hand. As soon as the light disappeared under Shadow's hand, he then noticed it move into Shadow's arm instead and move upwards to his shoulder.

'_That's-?! My Chaos energy! Shadow's taking my Chaos energy!'_

Sonic felt himself becoming lightheaded and dizzy. He knew that if he was standing, his legs would never support him through this process. He never knew that Chaos energy could be transferred so easily like this through one being to another. Sonic knew that Shadow depended on Chaos energy to survive, but Sonic himself didn't need it that much. He then wondered if he had stored up years of Chaos energy from all his fights from using the Chaos emeralds.

Once Shadow felt a little bit better and more comfortable on his energy levels, he released his grip on Sonic's wrist. Sonic panted hard as the unusual feeling then halted. He then proceeded to massage his sore wrist, as Shadow had maintained a really tight grip.

"Sorry, Sonic." Shadow apologised.

"It's ok, don't worry about it." Sonic simply waved him off, but still felt a little dizzy. He then tilted his head back to a cushion and remained there for a few minutes as he recovered.

Eggman soon returned to announce that everything was ready, but not before noticing how odd Sonic looked. The blue hedgehog told him that Shadow had borrowed some of his Chaos energy and that it was nothing to worry about.

"You do realize that you can't use the Chaos emeralds or their powers, otherwise you'll only hurt yourself more." The doctor stated.

"Don't worry, Ivo, I won't use them for a while." Sonic promised.

The two hedgehogs then followed the human to a door. The doctor opened it from the bottom, like a flap. Inside, it was pitch black.

"Right Shadow? You first." Eggman said.

Without a word Shadow entered and the human closed the door again, trapping the ebony hedgehog inside.

Next it was Sonic's turn. The scientist performed the same procedure on the next door. "Your turn, Sonic."

The blue hedgehog stayed in place, unmoving as he looked into the dark opening. "What is this, Eggman?"

"Something that you might like. You'll find out soon. Now, please go inside."

Sonic decided to enter, just to figure out what was going on. He didn't really suspect a trap anyway. He knew that Egghead had definitely changed. After all, he wasn't locked up somewhere, or being tortured, or worse.

The human closed the door behind him, and the lights went out. Sonic couldn't see anything.

It was too quiet and dark and empty. He expected a massive coliseum filled with a vast audience cheering them on.

"What the-?! If this is a tournament, then I'm Eggman." The azure creature stated to himself.

He tried to look around, but he couldn't even see his hands in front of him, let alone his nose. He was alone, without many of his senses and he was probably trapped.

Sonic started to breathe a little harder, trying to find a way out. He kept turning, only to find a wall there. Were the walls closing in on him? Squeezing and restricting his movement? He could feel his heart beat faster, his breaths becoming faster.

'_Sonic?'_

Said hedgehog heard that very familiar voice in his mind. _'Ivo! What are you doing? Let me out!' _Sonic responded with his mental ability. Hearing Egghead's voice had either calmed him down a bit or else he had just lost his sanity.

'_Calm down, Sonic and listen to me. Nothing can hurt you in there. And if I released you now, it would spoil the fun.'_

'_You call this "fun"? This is animal abuse! Caging me up like this.'_

'_First off, I don't find this fun at all, not yet anyway. And second, I need you to relax.'_

'_Relax? Oh, how can I relax, when my whole body wants out?'_

'_Focus, and let your mind go blank.'_

'_This is torture…'_ Sonic grumbled.

'_Might be easier if you were asleep.'_

'_Seriously. How the heck can I sleep in a place like this?'_

'_By lying down, closing your eyes, just breathe in and out and let yourself drift off.'_

'_What are you now, my conscience, or something? I know what to do!'_

'_Then I'll leave the rest up to you!'_

After that, it was quiet again. And Sonic was left to his own devices. He dropped to his knees and tried to get himself comfortable as the room would allow. He soon found himself curled up on his side. Another deep sigh escaped his fawn lips, as he tried for the hundredth time to doze off. But he was still too jittery.

He tried again, by rolling over onto his back. One arm supported his head and the other hand rested on his venter. This felt better to the hedgehog. His body started to go limp as he let out another prolonged sigh, while trying to relieve some tension and unwind, and allowed his mind to drift off without any restrictions.

That was when he saw lights.

Sonic's head was spinning and he kept blinking in order to adjust to the new and unusual experience. Once he felt well enough, he slowly got up and took a look around.

"Where am I?" The azure hedgehog said to himself as he gazed at his surroundings.

"This is the coliseum." Shadow answered as he walked towards Sonic.

"Ah, that explains the weird surroundings." The blue blur stated as he saw thousands of robots cheering from the stands above them.

"Ladies and gentle bots…" Both hedgehogs looked up to see Eggman in one of the V.I.P stands addressing his audience. "Today, a tournament is being hosted for your amusement. Let's see how our brave competitors compete today. Let the tournament begin!"

**XXX**

**To be continued…**


End file.
